Photo overlooking a valley of hills, green foliage, houses and cars, with a blue sea and sky on the horizon.

‘a degree in home o’ sexual orientation’ by Ox Matiu

A banner featuring photos of clusters of yellow lemons on either side of black text that reads '#EnbyLife Journal. Tribute. enbylife.net'. The banner background is light brown and white striped, and a border with a brown scallopy design is on the left and right hand sides.

Screenshot of a poem with the following text, 'a degree in home o’ sexual orientation

papers please as the harakeke folds
peels 		off the wall like portraits
warworn battalions 	of comm unity

the flax is worn beneath my nails 
tint green like the eyes of my father
tint brown like the eyes of my mother
my nan tells me I need to stop biting them
stop marking the red raw rubbing of the s kin
   highlighting who I am is a sin for us red rosy poppies

		yet a stickied green stamp drives the dirt apart
			wheel treading the lines of inners and outters
				sinners and doubters for the conflagration
					and it won’t be my garden that’s up in flames

				I’ll be at home.

home in the rafters					home in the sky
home in the floorboards				home in the earth


home is paper written in the skin ink 	    blinking'

Photo overlooking a valley of hills, green foliage, houses and cars, with a blue sea and sky on the horizon.

About the author

Ox Matiu is a takatāpui (Ngāpuhi) poet / researcher / archivist floating around Aotearoa, currently exploring art translation and its connection to identity formation and expression. Their emerging work can be found in a fine line, Blackmail Press, and Fast Fibres.

Photo by Ox Matiu.

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