From the violence of Tiberius and Edward III to the death of James Cook’s Polynesian companion Tupaia, this collection of poems examines a litany of historical contexts, countering the habitual barbarity, selfishness, and stupidity of humans by highlighting their potential. It contrasts grace with atavism, imaginative transcendence with the determinative structures of biology, culture, and belief. Humans, the clever apes, live and die in age-old continents, but behave incontinently. At the collection’s core is the role of poetry as revelation of the ethical horizon of human existence and how as a species the human race willfully neglects to act in accordance with this revelation. In one example, the collection also reflects on the environmental conflict presently raging in Otago-Southland concerning the giant wind farms proposed by Meridian, Trust Power, and other generators. Ironically, the poems suggest that areas of great and remote natural beauty have fallen victim to technology, symbolizing a would-be corporate revolution towards greener methods of energy. Using deft and concentrated language to bridge the gap between ideas and objects, this compendium demonstrates a unique and innovative voice in New Zealand poetry.
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