Kotuku Shining Flight: Poems 1979-2022

Kathleen Gallagher is not only a poet but also a writer of fiction and non-fiction. She is probably best known for her ten films about the environment. Covering rivers, wetlands and peace-making people, these movies, which have been screened internationally, take us to the themes of many of the poems in this collection of a lifetime of writing. The rivers and marae of Canterbury, the prophetic people who have influenced others deeply, the family history on the West Coast, all provide ingredients for reflection.

This poet also chronicles some key events in the history of Aotearoa: “Song of the Ngai Tahu Women 1843”, “’81 Springbok Tour”, “David Lange opening the Ghandi exhibition in Christchurch 2002”, “Silencing the Hikoi”, John Weir and James K Baxter, as John recalls, even “Benny Hinn in Addington”. Yet other poems are very simple. All are contemplative in some way.

Kathleen is a Catholic woman, from Christchurch so some of the work is about the events of earthquake and aftermath, the Al Noor Mosque, and characters who are part of the Catholic Worker community there. There are also very personal poems about her family and particularly, her son’s death.

Above all, I think this collection by one of our country’s most prolific writers will speak to people of faith. In the poem called “The way through”, the concluding line takes me back to the cross: “he becomes one with the tree with the sky”. For myself “Doing no thing” and “An invitation to stillness” sit in my heart alongside the last lines of her tribute to her father:
“…no matter what
we are held simply and in all ways
in the palm of God’s hand.”

Highly recommended, even if you think you don’t like poetry.

Published by Pukeko Publications with WickCandle Films 2022.