Mark PirieMark 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), an artbook Folk Punk (2020) 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.
Watchwords
I find
Roger McGough
again
or
maybe
Roger McGough
finds me.
it’s a book fair (not a gig)
he’s hardly looking
to meet me
but on the back cover
he seems approachable.
I pick him up, carry him home
like it’s after a rock gig.
hey, it’s a poem, he ain’t heavy.
he might laugh in person.
                    “watchwords” he first said
                              to me as a young poet reading,
                                        and I’m still watching them
                                                  making this poem.
Neruda
Neruda
in the ’40s
pursued
by
Police
thought
of
the People.
          They created him, inspired
his poetry, and rage, his love.
Imprisoned in his mind, his words were
fighting for Punishment
of those unjust.
(The social cost
was not economics
but pure poetry
to him.)
He left the bourgeoisie and Fascists
for the common good
and paid the price:
his real wealth
a life of poetry.
2150AD
I’m
Operations
Manager,
Linguistics,
for
the
Department
of
Conversation.
We
work
to save
all poets
and words
from
extinction.
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