the tall grass shades under the mānuka groveriver drifts by: blushed with carplads lying, sentimental, at heart fertility pulses in the veinsmen men till they’re nota torn convoluted plot whole tumble of misfortunegrass scratching against the thighsthe river gliding, her eyes wheat-weary grass-cudding tunesandwich-up on the mud-moss bankfeet pressing, none to thank Brett Cross has…
A Stuffed Owl in a Museum Potatoes in a box at the bottom of a rack,bitter greens bunched in twine, the cold air.The shop is dim inside, packs of sliced bread in brown paper bags. No soy or rice milkat this grocery store. I buy a bag of spinach,rinse the soil in the sink, pull the…
1. haberdashery counter at Woolworthsthe grubbiness of my black miniskirt and white polothen from elastic and interfacingtransferred on Christmas Eve to the scrum at confectionerythe notes and coins with coconut icetumble from my butterfingers 2. in the white starch change roombegging for safety pinsso i can close my overallalready beneath my beltone fastening missed Nurse! Nurse! 3. writing radio…
South of the city back then if you were a bad boyConstable ‘Cruiser’ Boat who represented the large bootof the law in the district would with the approvalof the entire communitypossibly including your parentsadminister a kick up the arse which remedy when appliedat the optimum juncturewas believed to eliminate all risk of recidivism it never occurred to…
His thundering horses his river of goldhis liquid altar you dare not speak I understand those white sails in the Pacific were something he always dreamed of a thousand miles away but I managed to limp home to light my child’s lamp before he went to sleep Simon Anton Niño Diego Baena’s fourth chapbook, With Different Wars Raging, is forthcoming from…
The day you fly to Dunedin for a writer’s residency, you google a woman you knew from Otago law school. She’s just appeared in court for a man accused of taking something from a woman, which the woman said she didn’t want to give. That could have been you, you think, defending men who choose…
Freud I had a housewarming in the country for not many peopleWho did not know each other wellI made tamarillo chutney and spinach and feta frittersTony brought the wild pig which was female and not gameyAnd briefly we had a party because it was all so deliciousIn the photos I look unhappy and tightBecause I…
From Telepresences Teratophilematology My Zoom therapist is tender under her Bill Clinton mask. Her retrievertongues the plastic wrinkles like a sloppy car wash. She makes me choose who tasted better: sexy Freddy Kruger or the Jägerbombed Leatherfacethat slapped the bouncer. How many people touch you each day? Did you know lipstick was invented to simulate a healthy…
Everything That Moves, Moves Through Another edited by Jennifer Cheuk. 5ever Books (2024). RRP: $65. PB, 231pp. ISBN: 9780473713560. Reviewed by Vera Hua Dong. Everything That Moves, Moves Through Another is a lavish tapestry of sounds and shapes of languages, colours and aromas of spices, and most of all, of the lightness and heaviness of…
We brought back lacquerware plates that we had painted with almond sap and sprinkled with coloured mica as if we were masters—a drop of dust and a knowing nod, greeted by the sound of hands meeting—as if we were the most important part of the process. And the starts of chapters are marked with torn receipts, where I had asked how she would…