Mark Pirie


Poem in the Chinese Manner

Cold morning. Heat of sun thru window.
By midday the air is not so heavy.
I can see the snow on the Remutaka range.
Spring is soon and life renewed.
Thus a heart melts and is warmed again.



Poem for Li Bai

After the storm
a rainbow across the sea,
waves ripple beneath.

It could be an image
seem from the mountain hut
of the master Li Bai.

The storm is only
his brief poem, strokes,
tormented by the world.

No warriors cross the harbour
to find me,
and trouble my thoughts.

I share his passion
for brush strokes that appear
as words, and that is all.



Reading Cochrane

The
good
things
about
Geoff Cochrane
                are
                the
                (bad?)
                things
                in
                his
                life.
Art connects in him.
It makes poetry.



The View

For Yüan Mei, 1716-1798

Change sides and check the view from your building
where you work, and you will see what you
are missing each time. The tui flies past
and lands on a branch, or is it the people
meeting at the cathedral. The weather too
alters the scene. If it’s fine, the picture
and landscape emboldens. These are
common things to The Master but with
understanding: The view finds the poetry.




Mark Pirie (b.1974) is an internationally published New Zealand poet, editor, publisher and archivist for PANZA (Poetry Archive of NZ Aotearoa). In 2016, his selected poems, Rock & Roll, was published by Bareknuckle Books, Australia. Other books include a biography, Tom Lawn, Mystery Forward (ESAW, 2018) and Gallery (poetry) published by Salt, England, 2003. He is a former founder/editor of JAAM, 1995-2005, publisher for HeadworX 1998-, and currently edits broadsheet: new new zealand poetry, 2008-.
Website: www.markpirie.com.
 
 
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