Ask the grandmothers at Marovo Lagoon They'll say "Daughter, the water is rising." Ask the young men who fish down in the bay They'll say "Sister, the weather is changing But you, you can go home." Everyone here comes from some other place And they'll tell you As soon as they meet you "My mother's Makira, my father's Marau And I'll go, soon as...Learn More

Sunday night, chest tight Grabbing at the last light now City growing dark beneath I got to leave the house Got to breathe in and breathe out Got to breathe in Muscle-tee man gets a pedicure on the street Rows of knock-off phones The smell of frying meat Ma’am where you from, ma’am where you from? Ma’am where you from? Where are you...Learn More

Hark now, over there in the distance No, it don’t make no difference We’re coming on We are not soldiers, fearless and brave The mountain that looms up ahead Makes the boldest afraid But see now, there are sparks in the night Days like these it feels harder to keep them alight But we keep them alight Hark now, over there in the distance No, it...Learn More

Old friend, what’s up with you? Your eyes a darker shade of blue Your skin is thin, I see the veins right through Good god, you’re standing there In last night’s clothes, no underwear Your fingers bleed from picking at the skin You say, “There’s nothing good, and nothing bad There’s just what you take and what you’re given.” You say, “So what if...Learn More

All our friends, they're breaking up Or having babies While we pretend that it’s enough Another dirty town, my thoughts derail And I can't stop them Fast food, slow nights, you far away I make bad choices when I got them How we gonna hold it up, this fragile love? Your grandmother she met her man When she was thirteen A little church and family...Learn More

That month at Wallace Street Kathleen and Jimmy both moved out You came to meet us all Then you moved your things into our house Could barely catch my breath When you sat beside me on the couch That winter rained like hell The roof leaked into pots and pans We stood round the stove to warm our hands I showed you Vegemite You showed me the songs of...Learn More

Benjamin tells me The boat for the mainland Comes at five, or at six Or seven Or sometimes at eight He says, “Wait And you’ll see when it comes.” The light starts to fade And he switched the generator on Benjamin’s island is just two k’s around Circled with mangroves And water like slow liquid glass In the past His great-grandmother swum These...Learn More

The sky is a silver-white haze The sky is a silver-white haze It dazzles the days The water runs warm from the pipes The water runs warm from the pipes Even at night We wait I talk to my love through a screen He’s pixels and plastic, not skin I’m trying I find myself counting the days Calculating the distance through space There’s no trace We...Learn More

Keep having dreams where I have cheated Wake up feeling sore and sad I guess I’m scared that I will fuck up The best thing I ever had Distance makes the heart grow fond But messes up my head Messes up my head Don’t turn your clocks back, babe Don’t put another hour between us I don’t call cos I’m afraid Of what I say when I don’t mean it Could we...Learn More

You spent the summer cleaning out your father’s house In the basement, in your home town Cold family bones, you were digging, digging down Dead quiet in the house now Where he raised his sons and daughter Vines choking up the pipes There’s nothing left except the bricks and mortar Oh, oh, baby please come up for air Got to let it go, go, lay it...Learn More