Broadsheet /1, new new zealand poetry ed Mark Pirie (The Night Press, Wellington, May 2008) RRP $10.00. ISSN 1178-7805 (Print) ISSN 1178-7813 (Online)

Rangi Faith

The first broadsheets I encountered were printed at Taylors Mistake in the 1970s. I still possess the copies and the poems are fresh after all these years. Some were in envelopes or pockets, and each poem seemed to be given more importance when it was unfolded. In Mark Pirie's Broadsheet /1, the impact is still the same. In one sense it is not a book. The concept of a collection of broadsheets and its soft cover means that it stands halfway between a hard cover book and single, crafted sheets. It stands on its own - a collection of excellent individual poems that could have had lives as broadsheets in their own right.

In the first poem Jeanne Bernhardt asks: "does air not tell you anything?" In ‘Ode' Tony Beyer questions the wisdom of the city fathers of Auckland, saying: "in the days of the death of oil/ they build roads". In ‘Mother Lode" he acknowledges the debt all poets have to their parents: "I have seldom mentioned you/ in my poems/ because you are part of their making and should know".

If poetry is ‘pure' there is plenty of this in Alistair Te Ariki Campbell's ‘Intacta':

And she was gracious
As a pearl on fingers of cool sound,
And like a tree she made a Christ of skies
When she stirred.

In ‘To My Muse' he writes: "This is my last poem. It's out there on the beach/ For eternity to come by/ And lift it out of reach."
Meg Campbell's "As Far As It Goes (2000)' has that sense of a poem that will stand the test of time:

I see my sister as a young girl
she's with me now. I have
all things to thank her for.
Let no-one speak ill of her.

Gemma Claire's words are simple and shocking: "...where was the neighbourliness/ when Nia was strangled and tumble-dried?"
Evelyn Conlon's works ‘Untitled' and ‘For Yana (2001) are haunting and emotional tributes. Michael Duffet's ‘Dark Matter' is a breath of oxygen:

We have not seen nor felt nor touched you,
Mysterious pervasive matter
But we live our days in comfort
And our debt to you is utter.

Robin Fry's imagery is sharp: "..that wild night/ when wind turned water/ into knives.." (‘Orage').

Iraqui New Zealander Basim Furat presents a new view of his adopted city, Hiroshima, in two poems translated from Arabic. Michael O'Leary offers a sonnet to the late Victor O'Leary: "When it comes time to breathe your last breath/ Remember, you are the victor, not death, not death." On the next page Victor replies "....only thus, briefly, we live."
Imagery is a strength of Stephen Oliver's ‘Marooned' - "The...(dolerite columns)/ hang from the summit/ as baleen in the mouth of a whale". His short ballad ‘Swagman's Song' about ‘Bob Orr's glass door' could become a Kiwi classic. Mark Pirie and L.E.Scott complete a fine collection of poetry.

There are only 14 poets and 25 poems. The total cost works out at 40 cents a poem and you get Contributors' Notes, a good Preface and strong binding included as well. You need to reward good writing and this issue points forward to more of the same. Poetry is not a big seller, so these are small steps that add up to a quality production.

 

Rangi Faith lives in North Canterbury. He is currently completing a new book of poetry. 

 

 


NZPS Home