Mark Pirie turns 40 this year. He is a poet, writer, literary critic, anthologist, publisher and editor. His last collection, Old Hat (HeadworX, 2012), was a book of triolets. Pirie can write poems about sport, history, literature, childhood, biography, contemporary events and film.
Sidelights is a small group of rugby poems written between 1993 and 2013. Many have been widely published in journals, anthologies and newspapers. This little publication is an unusual fusion of two areas of New Zealand society not often connected. Pirie is personal and open in this latest outing.
''Playmakers'':
My grandfather led forward rushes;
Me, I kicked a ball through defences
Looking for a striker or a winger.
My grandfather led forward rushes;
AB's at hand for exchanges.
He knew the hard law of the trenches.
My grandfather led forward rushes;
Me, I kicked a ball through defences.
Sidelights is beautiful and intelligent.
- Hamesh Wyatt lives in Bluff. He reads and writes poetry.
