Martin introduced me to the Kiwi folkband Wild Geese and most particularly to their song titled 'Promises to Keep' ... it's the second song on this page, and is about the Featherston Military Camp, the last place New Zealand soldiers trained before being shipped out during WW1.
An extract:
You are all gone
And the flags no longer crack amid the cheers
It's been so long
And the memories are dulled by passing years
But here amongst these stony fields
Winter's weary shadow steals
And your voices linger on the breeze
2 comments:
Those lines are heartbreaking and, somehow, hopeful. I think that is because there is a sense that voices from the past are an expected part of life. As a writer and artist, that gives me peace -- what I do and say and create now may someday be heard by a heart who is seeking answers.
I'll take you up on the suggestion of "Bread and Tulips" you left on my blog. You're the second person to recommend the book to me. Today is better -- very much so -- and I may actually be able to accomplish something other than a cranky exercise in omphaloskepsis.
Oh, and I ought to return the favor with a book suggestion based upon the name of the band:
"The Wild Geese," by Ogai Mori. Prepare for more on the theme of heartbreak and hope intertwined. This was the first piece of Japanese literature I was exposed to and it began a love affair with the culture's light, watercolor treatment of deep emotion.
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