poem | Selina Tusitala Marsh - Overland literary journal

bloodgirl lived in a sleepy how town
(with up all few bird words down)
bloodgirl cleaned her skin with their bones
carbon dirt diamond stone

sleepy how town frowned and locked her far
bloodgirl congealed, slipped through the bar
painted her why on all whose doors
carbon fire glass ore

afakasi drew his many hows down
(with flying whys and who shoulds around)
afakasi marked her words, crossed her naughts
crystal ruby sardonyx quartz

questions inked (both big and small)
bloodgirl and afakasi faced the wall
scribed their hows, etched their mights
alum galena bismuthinite

Related articles & Essays

9 May 20259 May 2025 · Prizes

The Nakata Brophy Prize for Young Indigenous Writers (Fiction)

Editorial Team

In 2025, first prize will be awarded to the best short story up to 3000 words by an Indigenous writer who is 35 years or younger at the closing date of the competition. A runner-up prize may also be awarded.

2 May 20258 May 2025 · Long read

Books are essential

Luke Horton

Books are essential because — and yes, it seems now I dare to say it — they give us hope. But, more precisely, they give us the energy to seek new and better ways to understand, or to recognise. To search beyond slogans for the concrete. For our recognition to be more profound, and our Act Three to be filled with more effective fighting.

Selina Tusitala Marsh

Selina Tusitala Marsh is a poet and scholar. She was the first person of Pacific descent to graduate with a PhD in English from the University of Auckland, where she now lectures in Māori and Pacific literary studies. She established Pasifika Poetry, an online hub that celebrates the poetry of tagata o te moana nui, the peoples of the Pacific.

More by Selina Tusitala Marsh ›

Share via:

256 Spring 2024

Buy/subscribe now Browse the issue

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.