Reflection on 'A Living Death'

It’s taken me a long time to have ‘no’ as my standard response to invitations to do anything - writing, speaking, teaching, giving myself away. ‘No’ creates space to determine what’s right for me, instead of reacting to the constant buzz of obligation that my brain sends to the tips of my fingers every time an email arrives, asking for me to do yet another thing. 

Woven gave me an excuse to share creative energy with someone I admire, so it was a firm ‘yes’ even though I couldn’t figure out when or how we’d do this. I met Chelsea in person at the Auckland Writers Festival this year, but I’ve known about her for years, as a wahine toa doing the hard mahi across the ditch. 

None of us ever have the time to do these things, even as we berate ourselves for not making the most of our privilege. But we show up for each other, for ourselves, for our daughters and sons, our ancestors. 

Everyone exists within their context, and our poem is inextricable from the context of being Indigenous women in 2023.