Peace and Quiet

The title of this collection states Dinah Hawken’s theme: in mostly a brief few lines and in two longer pieces her preoccupation is peace, and the quiet that accompanies it.

The sea is predominant: Hawken lives in Paekākāriki, so that’s maybe not surprising! “I know the presence / of beauty in the sheen of the sea / is indisputable.” Oceanic images reflect moods of quiet but also contrast. In Brief dialogue she contrasts the sea’s quality of moderation with the upheaval of living; and in Shelter we get some social commentary in “Now the older women run daily, year-round, into the sea.” My word!

The most striking poem is the centrally placed paean for peace. In the form of a ballad, Hawken takes us to Parihaka. “‘Sit close and be stout-hearted,’ Te Whiti said.” Was he really buried in a cloud of white feathers? Further on, we are shocked again into awareness of war, this time on a worldwide scale, by mention of the Somme and its horrors. New Zealand re-enters the picture with the story of Archibald Baxter, conscientious objector, and the cruelty of Field Punishment No. 1 that he underwent. But “There is no prohibition / on the use of gentleness”, says our writer, “gentleness is light / and it levitates.” She questions whether we can stop thinking of war as inevitable – and is hopeful that we can.

The last few poems are redolent with nature: Kāpiti, blackbird, tūī, flowers – yet in October Morning “Here they come, the missile men and the techno men, / thinking of the quickest and the deadliest way forward.” Are we not to avoid war after all?

More recent events and markers of our times are referenced: the pandemic, cell phones, scamming, an Apple Mac.

The final poem and is also the most heartfelt. Its timeliness is all too clear. Weapons of mass destruction there may be, but the Pacific Ocean swells and flows with prayer and hope.