Blue Rain

This is Petaia’s first collection of poetry. It is heavily critical of the colonialist influence on education in particular and generally on the Samoan culture as it were. The new way of life that outside influences have imposed upon the younger generations of the country continue to begrudge the older generation; the guardians of the ancient culture and way of life of the Samoan people.
Such poems as Blue Rain, Kidnapped, Father and Son and so on, express the feelings of the poet about the dilemma of western influences that are slowly crippling and strangling the indigenous nature and beauty of these people’s ancient culture and way of life. However, despite the ‘angry’ nature of many of the poems, the overriding tone of this collection is the poets love for family and children and country and the purity of beauty that flowers, hearts, stars, hopes, dreams, smiles and of course the colourful rain express.