Book Review: Undercurrents by Lynne Frith
The cover photograph of a boardwalk in Pekapeka Wetlands, south of Hastings, was taken by Sally Carter, Presbyterian minister in Napier.
Lynne Frith had chosen to live in Hawkes Bay in her early years of retirement, and both had served Wellington churches in early ministries.
The photo captures well the searching spirit that underlies Lynne’s collection of forty-six poems. The boardwalk imagery symbolises walking the spiritual faith journey through a darkened bush landscape and over deep waters of uncertain depth.
A similar idea is caught in the following poem:
Fancy Footwork
Oh, there is a man walking on a roof.
Not as remarkable as walking on water
but just as tricky.
Not only is there the matter
of elegant footwork
needed for walking on a slope
but also the large bucket of paint
which would be messy
If the man walking on the roof
fell over.
The trick to walking on water
is knowing where the shallow bits are.
The ordinariness of imagery, the careful placing and length of lines, the repetition of key words, and the punch line to end, all illustrate the wit and wisdom of Lynne’s poems. Neither can we overlook the scriptural reference.
Church ministers, in their preaching and prayers, choose their words with the congregational needs paramount. It is not that their salary depends on this, but rather that they communicate most ably when their words reflect the life experience and common sense of the people for whom they offer their pastoral ministry.
The writing of poetry is a more personal act. There is a greater freedom to create and play with language. It both reveals and conceals. In a selection of eleven poems published in Music in the Air Summer/Autumn 2008, Lynne writes: ‘Readers of poetry often assume that all poetry is autobiographical. It is more accurate to describe mine as responses to both lived and observed experience…When I read poetry, which I do avidly, the inspiration behind a poem is less important than the response the poem evokes in me.’
Two categories provide a framework to the choice and diversity of subject matter in this collection:
First is C.S. Lewis’s four loves described in Greek thought: familial or affection (storge), friendship (philia), romantic (eros) and spiritual (agape) – ‘the highest does not stand without the lowest’.
And second, a listing of topics: places of ministry, the landscape of Aotearoa, arts of painting and music, New Zealand poets, road travel, the four seasons, home life, travel overseas, loners, relations between women and men, and moments of epiphany.
There is a Prelude ‘Opening words from an old friend’, written by Dr Nicola Francis, an ordained Spiritual Carer, Wellington. This is a wonderful tribute to Lynne as lifelong friend and poet. Readers could first make their own acquaintance with Lynne’s poems, and then come back to this foreword as guide to deeper levels of meaning.
Readers are encouraged to take time to find their own meanings and stories from the poems. Earlier I wrote about the language of poetry that ‘reveals and conceals’. That is, it moves from the literal to metaphorical, the outward to the inward, the physical to the spiritual.
Each reader is invited to find their own interpretation of the poem. Each reader is open to further changes in understandings. The message is open-ended, waiting for the reader to find their own meaning or meanings!
Nicola Francis’s Prelude records Lynne’s learning to live with Parkinson’s disease. This led to her return to Auckland, where church, family and friends give support. This shadow has slowed down her passionate commitment to life’s callings and causes. Now she heeds the doctor’s advice to manage her illness, and choose a more quiet life, accepting Parkinson’s company. This is superbly illustrated in the opening poem of this collection:
Practising the art of being
You could learn the art of being
the doctor said,
as an antidote to feeling useless.
Being still,
being quiet,
being present.
It’s a hard learning,
so imprecise and not easily measured.
Your graduation ceremony
will be your last breath.
John Thornley, publisher of Music in the Air (1996-2015)
johngill@inspire.net.nz