“A more palatable form of masculinity” indeed. My palate does not need to be spared. I will call this piece what it is: writing that spits on people’s wounds, that exploits their trauma, that has gorged itself on their pain.

You benefit from this system every day you don’t fear for your life. Every day you don’t have to ‘be political’, every day you turn off the news and walk away because it doesn’t affect you. Your silence is unacceptable.

A team of First Nations and People of Colour (POC) writers have started statistical research into how many First Nations and POC writers were published in Australia in 2018. 

inheritance (I) is there a history of mental illness in your family? yeah doc  …

I heard her panting as she crept closer, intrigued. “I’m looking for my husband,” I said.

In highschool a classmate calls me a sand n—. It’s the first time I’ve heard the term, and I’m more confused by it than anything else.

Fresh hip hop, new wave R&B, Oceanic musicality, words, and movement and on Oceanic, LGBTQIA+ and diaspora experiences.  

At Auntie’s house, it’s Christmas time.
We get to make the cake.
Takani is sad because his mob is late;
their car broke down at the old mill’s gate

i worry it’s not “authentic”. are we
cheating by making it this way?

The Moment is a year-long series of poems featuring new work from some of our most exciting First Nations and/or other poets of colour, responding to the current cultural moment we find ourselves in today.