Explore Easterine Kire's 'Freerain': A poetic journey through nostalgia, nature and hope

'Freerain', Easterine Kire’s latest collection of poetry comprises of 74 poems which deal with themes of nostalgia, loss and hope.

The collection includes 60 poems, along with 8 poems previously published in Jazz Poetry and Other Poems in 2012, 4 poems from Kelhoukevira published in 1982, and 2 poems from The Windhover Collection published in 2001.

Kire writes of the many places she’s visited including Norway, Calcutta, Nagaland and Aizawl and the people she met in her various travels.

In her poems, one finds a serene depiction of the presence of nature and in some poems there is a personification of nature. 

In 'Wilding', Kire presents a peaceful portrayal of the lives of living things amidst the forces of nature, while in 'Tree in July', the narrator expresses a sense of brotherhood with nature. 'Song of the Wind' also depicts the bond the narrator shares with nature, as she feels and understands the mournful song of a tree whose branches are to be cut down. In her poem 'Wind in Autumn', Kire speaks of the powerful wind that carries the ocean and brings about the cycles of life by ushering in the rain.

The poet beautifully expresses how the innocent purity of feathered creatures, and how the mere sight of them in "pure flight" freely roaming, is able to dispel all despair. Kire’s poems offer a simple description of the power of nature and the bond nature shares with all living things. The poet also personifies the wind in "March", referring to it as a "he," a person who loves you. The titular poem Freerain speaks of the radiance of rain—beautiful and fragile, yet free for all. This radiant rain makes one long for home. Rain is also depicted as "life-like" in "Summer Shower." The poet writes of a people who have a Wordsworthian relationship and bond with nature as they "speak to the trees every day." In child-like innocence, the moon is described as "egg-shaped," clouds as having "a hand with two eyes" that turned into a "giant feather," and dogs that turned into a cloud that went away to live in heaven.

Easterine Kire writes elaborately on the places and the people she met in life, of her various experiences. She writes about connections made through small talk, life and settling down, and also of short-lived winter lights and of a person’s reluctance to face people without a “mask”. A city is depicted as a leafless tree where people’s hearts need to be protected with “fences”. Kire writes of childhood innocence and the simple joys found in life in her poem ‘Aizawl, February 2017’. Kire takes her readers back to a time when people relied on the knowledge of hunters, whose knowledge was more accurate than “maps”. 

The reader is brought back to the times when people relied solely on the hunters as they knew the land best as they had wedded the land in her depths. In ‘Scarecrow’, the poet evokes a keen sense of emotion in her description of the features of the straw-like arms of a fisherman, “ossified by poverty”. 

Easterine Kire writes of loss, change, nostalgia and the impermanence of life. In ‘Mother’s Earthleavingness’, she gives a poignant description of “mother’s” slowly deteriorating body yet somewhat with a light-hearted note of acceptance as she describes her mother’s weak steps as “light as a dancer’s”. The poet, with only a slight hint of bittersweet sorrow, accepts the fact that her mother is ready to leave her earthly body for her “long flight home”. 

In ‘Sparrows’, Kire writes about the loss of her mother as she longs for her presence as she listens to the sparrows’ song. Parental love is emphatically depicted in her poems as she describes “the cradle” of a father’s hands as a safe place, a place of refuge. In her depiction of parental love, she writes about life and of peacefully letting go. 

Easterine Kire evocatively writes about human relationships, of bonds made, of births, deaths and the many lessons learnt in life through the love we give and the love we receive. The fleetingness of air travel is emphasised as it is “unnatural” and a hurried form of travel. 

Kire writes about the hardships of life, where one is abruptly pulled away from things they love and forced to go on without their loved ones. She writes of long-gone years, with memories brought back by the wind. The poet dreams of a time long past, of her younger years when she played with her brother when they were very little. She also writes about a child’s growth into maturity, and a mother’s dilemma when she thinks about the time when she will no longer be able to answer all her child’s queries. Looking back at her relationships and the loss of her loved ones, the poet is at peace. She submits wholly, sitting still and peacefully watching the ongoing events of life.

Easterine Kire writes about the turn of events in one’s life, of something good happening to someone who feels they do not deserve it. She writes about love and protection from harm, of a love where one submits oneself wholly without fear. She writes that love is equivalent to giving, and that love will be acquired after giving to those who have none to feed them. God’s love is described as “white,” beautiful and good. God’s call is heard amidst the demands of life that beats repeatedly like a “log drum.”

Easterine Kire, a keeper of stories for her people, the Nagas, understands the importance of putting words in print. She writes about how stories are made, and how at times, some are even “begged” to write. Her poem Words speaks of a woman who used words that submerged into one’s conscience, “like pebbles dropped into a still pool of water.” In this collection of poetry, readers are submerged into a realm of love, memory, and nature, with a sense of peace and acceptance.

About the author: Easterine Kire is a renowned Naga poet and novelist who currently lives in Norway. She has won several accolades and in 2011, Easterine Kire was awarded the Governor's Medal for excellence in Naga literature. She was also awarded the Free Voice Award by Catalan PEN Barcelona. Her novel 'Spirit Nights' won The Sahitya Akademy Award in 2024.