How to live by the sea is Kapiti Coast writer Lynn Davidson’s third book of poetry. It is a collection of personal stories about life and love, and whether set beside the ocean, around the dinner table or on busy Cuba St, they are always inspired by the sea or nature.
With feelings of order and disorder drifting in and out, the poems come in three waves—Intertidal zone, The Middle Ages and Table to Table. Part one, Intertidal zone is a series of poems about nature or the sea. More narrative based, The Middle Ages tells the story of a young girl’s marriage, exploring gender roles and constructions and the Middle Ages works as an effective setting for modern stories about marital relations today. Table to Table tells stories of family relationships.
The beautifully crafted poems sweep from calm tranquility to wild violence. The familiarity in subject and setting along with the captivating changes in tone drew me in, and moved me to feel the connections between human life and nature that underlie each story. Crashing violent waves through peace and tranquility, Davidson uses the ocean and the tides as metaphors for life and feeling. So expansive and so volatile, you can never trust the ocean. It seems calm and loving but in a second could sweep you away or turn wild and deadly.
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