Poems
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The boys bloom
By Kevin NgoThe boys were told
not to wear flowers behind their ear,
such gentle things
belonged on the bottom of boots -
The Best Little Brothel on Parramatta Rd
By Sydnye AllenMASSAGE 508
Parramatta Road is outside my apartment.
Coles delivery trucks tackle supercharged cars
down towards Auburn, Flemington and Granville all day. -
Boragee
By Phoebe GrainerBuna Gives You Life
Buna ngkucarnga. I sip the water from the water hole I lay in. It tastes of dirt, rock and tree. My back touches the rocks and roots that watch over me. I look at my reflection in buna, my brown face burnt from the sun from walking, walking long to reach yallanya buna. Nykoo monga lays covering ngmun and falling into buna. Ngyu … -
When the sun sets
By Kevin NgoOne day the sun will set.
And under darkness and silence
cages will open, chains will smash
and the downtrodden will rise. -
Shish Barak
By Nadia ZeaiterSpiced mince, pine nuts and onions.
I prepare the dough for shish barak.
Arabic food takes too long to prepare
each meal has too many steps -
Blacktown: Boyd Street I
By Maryam AzamFor the first days of our marriage
we lived on Boyd street, near
the aquatic centre and a patch
of grass cut diagonally across -
Blacktown: Boyd Street II
By Maryam AzamThe orange pavers
of our townhouse complex
glow with lunchtime
summer heat. Unfettered -
Inbetweeners
By Kevin NgoTo the inbetweeners
Given a mask of a first name,
for slanted eyes cannot be straightened and
dirt brown skin cannot be scrubbed bone deep.