The Prime Minister’s February 22nd National Remembrance Speech & “The Sparrows”
As those of you who checked in here on Monday will know, it was the tenth anniversary of the February 22, 2011 earthquake, which did so much damage in Christchurch and Canterbury, and affected all our lives profoundly.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
A National Remembrance Service was held in Christchurch, at the Canterbury National Earthquake Memorial. The leading address was given by the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, who concluded her speech with the final lines from one of my earthquake poems, The Sparrows.
I felt, and feel, tremendously honoured, humble, and moved, that my words were chosen to play a part in such a significant event: in remembering those who passed away and honouring Christchurch and everyone who has suffered and endured through the past decade.
The poem was included in Leaving The Red Zone: Poems From The Canterbury Earthquake, edited by James Norcliffe and Joanna Preston, and published by Clerestory Press, in 2016.
The full text of the speech, including full audio, is here:
National Remembrance Service: the Prime Minister’s Speech
The Sparrows follows, for those who wish to read it in full. The image below it is of the painting, I meant it to be a poem about sparrows, by Dunedin artist, Claire Beynon, which features the first two lines of the poem:
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The Sparrows
I meant it to be a poem about sparrows
and how the silence that followed
the February 22nd earthquake
included their absent voices —
& not just sparrows but the starlings
and blackbirds, the finches and wax-eyes
that normally fill the day with their bustle
about the business of living …
……………………………. all fallen silent,
hidden away, or gone further to find food
since half the city was covered
in a slick of water and mud. I threw
old bread onto the island of grass
in our own grey sea and waited …
…………………………..… and waited.
And then, finally, they came
their wings clouding the sun.
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© Helen Lowe, 2011
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Oh what a lovely poem
Thank you, Jacqui. I’m glad you liked it, having been through it all yourself.
Dear Helen —
How wonderful to come to this. Your poem holds such reserved realism, such beauty, such space and silence — and also optimism. Wonderful to hear it was shared in this way — beyond the words on the page, spoken in this commemorative way.
Thank you, Michelle – I was very much feeling the decade since Feb. 22 2011 when I posted on the day, but learning the PM had concluded her speech with The Sparrows was definitely a lift, as are comments such as yours and those of the other commenters. Our ongoing correspondence throughout the decade, however intermittent and often at a great physical distance, has always offered flashes of brightness even in the bleakest post-earthquake days.:-)
Hi Helen,
It is beautiful. An honour well deserved.
Thank you so much, Helen. They were tough times for all those, such as yourself, who lived through them, and good to have the moment to look back and reflect, which holds so much poignancy and sorrow, but also to look forward: the celebrating the good that endures along with
Hi Helen,
What a beautiful poem – you encapsulate so much of the desolation and fear and loss in these few short lines. The missing birds is such a potent image and metaphor – and then that glimmer of optimism at the end as the birds return. Wonderful.
Thank you, Trish, for taking the time to comment and for your good words. I am glad The Sparrows flew far enough to find you and “spoke” to your heart.