Before the City: Selected Poems & Prose

By Kirby Michael Wright

"I recognize Kirby Wright as one of my own people, the citizens of the Pacific Rim. His heart is in Hawaii and California, aina and querencia. His fresh new voice sings love and concern for the beings along the shores and in the parks and gardens-and in the cities."-Maxine Hong Kingston

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0974106704
• ISBN13: 9780974106700
• Release Date: August 2003
• Publisher: Lemon Shark Press
• Length: 170 Pages
• Weight: 0.57 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Alsop Review Book Review by Sandy McKinney

This is a wry voice, reporting a discriminating and sometimes merciless eye. The first half of the book suggests that each poem is an experiment in itself. It's interesting, for example, to see poems with no perceptible structure utilizing first-word caps in every line, a sparseness of articles. It's even more interesting to come upon an occasional rhyme that makes us wonder whether it might have been thrown in as a mere tease, since it's a unique offering in its poem.The intrepid refusal to stick with any one approach lends the conviction that this poet knows exactly what he's doing. The mystery of why is a goad that impels the reader along page after page.

Honolulu Star Bulletin Book Review by Burl Burlingame

The words that spill out of Hawaii-born, Punahou graduate Wright tend to seize you right by the lapels. SLAM BAM! The "prose" selections are like rambling liner notes for an art-rock project, fascinating while accompanied by music. The more formal "poems" are punchier, and in their spareness have greater power to goose the imagination. Some are award winners, such as "Aloha, Liliuokalani," and all show an eye for detail and weight.

Review by Chris Mansel, www.theminiMAG.com

Kirby Wright wrote the poem "Shiatsu." I suppose "Shiatsu" could have been a broadside and just been distributed and that would have been fine, but no, there are more poems here to read. It's so very easy to just skim over the poetry in BEFORE THE CITY, it really is. But that is the sign of a good book of poetry, a piece of music. The best work here are the poems that contain a bit of prose. Poems like "New Jersey Suburbs at Dusk" and "Fishman" are fine examples. "The Gallery Director" is another very good piece of work. Kirby Wright listens obviously, and he captures a bit of what he has heard. Painting a vivid glint off the sun is a worthy task for each writer.

Keiki O Ka Aina

I was there at Iolani Palace in '93 when Wright was handing out copies of "Aloha, Lili'uokani," a broadside framed with Hawaiian petroglyphs. The persistent blues feel of that poem reminded me of IZ's "Hawaii '78," and I think if IZ was still alive today he would put music to the words. That poem is in this collection and there are 9 other poems set on Oahu and Moloka'i. I would totally recommend buying this nani book if you are from the islands or an ex-pat living on the mainland. A hui hou!