The Tuesday Poem

The poem this week at Tuesday Poem is "Quail Flat, 1960" by Kerry Popplewell, a poet from Wellington.

Keith Westwater is the editor of Tuesday Poem this week and he says of his choice:

"This poem is typical of Kerry's excellent writing - well-structured, with language that evokes feelings, emotions and memory, and based in the physical world of her tramping experiences.

On the surface, this poem describes a memory from a tramp she was on with five others many years previously. Following the overnight interlude from what must have been a hard climb, Kerry (there is no doubt that she is the narrator) wakes to observe one of her companions who is still asleep. His vulnerability and youth reminds her of her parents' generation (perhaps) who, at his age, weren't quite so fortunate, because they were called upon to fight overseas. 

In the last stanza, when the tramp begins again, the party seems to still be undertaking their journey in the physical landscape, but with a surprising twist they "then climbed a pass that led us down/to adulthood – terrain as yet empty,". I was impressed with this re-framing of the tramp to focus on what youth feel when the bright future lies ahead. I also enjoyed the descriptive writing set in the Kaikouras and the Clarence."