Rainbow Warrior - by Jacquelyn Markham (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The powerful poems in Rainbow Warrior make connections between the lives of the islanders of the South Pacific impacted by nuclear testing on Bikini and nearby islands and the Deep Water Horizon oil spill that devastated land and sea off the coast of Louisiana. The poems in this collection, some narrative, some epic, some lyrical, reveal the human toll of environmental disasters. Images of the lone Ivory Billed Woodpecker, now extinct, juxtaposed with a child listening to the "Mother of the Sea" chant from a spiral shell, or fledglings the "size of pennies/...copper in the sun" make everyday moments of healing and beauty in nature even more poignant. These poems that follow the moon and the tides strike awe in our hearts and move us toward a deeper social consciousness.

Review Quotes

Jacquelyn Markham's dedication of Rainbow Warrior to Rachel Carson prepares us for the power of this collection. Each of the ten poems gives us not only an insightful appreciation of nature but an awareness of its fragility in the lives of humans who too often view themselves as "gods" in relation to it, enjoying what they will without understanding they are destroying it. Drawing from indigenous lore, and imagining the voices of the people directly affected, Markham-as though herself listening to the spirit of the sea in a spiral shell, as though heartfully calling on sky power-expresses outrage and terror in the dark necessary reminder that warfare's bombs and greed's oil drilling have poisoned our Earth. "I plunge into the water trying/yet I wonder will we survive?" epitomizes the spirit of this strong sequence compelling in silent reading and superbly ready to be performed aloud by many voices.

-Katharyn Howd Machan, author of Dark Side of the Spoon and other collections