This group of poems by New Zealanders has a variety of voices, dispositions and worlds. Tulia Thompson describes a fruit bowl’s jostling points of origin. Airini Beautrais creates a soundscape and a flowing life-world. Nicole Hawkins takes us to a young man’s high school graduation as he takes and heals the mantle of his people. Anna Jackson walks down the less travelled paths of poetry and sheds light on her process. Ben Brown shares a gift for his son which must be delivered face to face. Selina Tusitala Marsh uncovers veins of ore and precious minerals by questioning small-town authority. Reihana Robinson draws on the divine to reinscribe the land with a ‘toehold’ of Indigenous tenure. Kiri Piahana-Wong writes about personal loss and resilience. Apirana Taylor confronts colonialism. Murray Edmond gently sledges kiwi machismo and anti-poets. Rachel Fenton describes the silencing of women graphic novelists. Many of these poets have established tenures as poets of national significance, and some are still emerging. A spirit of interior or exterior resistance – a side-glancing eye to the nature of life – powerfully swayed this selection from the numerous inspiring poems submitted for this edition.