poem | Apirana Taylor - Overland literary journal

thank you for the nails
thank you for the blankets
thank you for the rum
thank you for the tobacco
thank you for your law
thank you for your prisons
thank you for smashing my language
thank you for changing my family values
all these things i no longer want
                                               thank you

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Apirana Taylor

Apirana Taylor, Ngāti Porou, Te Whanau a Apanui and Ngāti Ruanui, is a nationally and internationally published Māori poet, short story writer, storyteller, playwright, novelist, actor and painter. He has been a Writer-in-Residence in New Zealand schools and universities.

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256 Spring 2024

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Overland 256 is the third issue in a suite of four special editions dedicated to commemorating 70 years of Overland. Inside its pages you'll find: Daniel Browning on the politics of memory, Antonia Pont on impatience, Sarah Wehbe on Palestinian fury and joy, and a special editorial by our departing poetry editor Toby Fitch. There's also new short fiction from Rowan MacDonald, Bethany Lalor and Amalia Stone, and new poetry from Josie Suzanne, Tim Loveday, Lulu Houdini and more.