J. Marahuyo is a neurodivergent Filipino-Australian award winning poet residing on Dharug country. Her debut collection will be released early 2025 by WestWords Books. Her work can be found in Cordite Poetry Review and FemAsia, numerous journals and anthologies. She was the recipient of Varuna’s The Writer’s Space online residency 2024 and was shortlisted for the Newcastle Poetry Prize 2024. When she’s not writing you Continue reading

Fastlove You barely arrive and it’s gone, says singer in rare tearful interview,during which reporters avert their eyes from the classical scene. The only competition is the image of sleeping under a giant butterflywing. The book is there: half-read. The game is being played. That day, I felt the need of a small, red apple. Continue reading

Lila My nails were bitten back and my uniform bunched around puppy fat yet Lila was neat even in rebellion her prim potty mouth little elfin ears, “fuck this” with calculated irreverence, just before the teacher came in She loved Arctic Monkeys and Vampire Weekend did I know them? I would nod in faux familiar Continue reading

Leaving We had a globe once. It stood on a plastic axis, slightly off-kilter, its map yellowed. It wheezed when it was spun. I have this vivid, golden-hued memory of tracing unseen paths with the kids when they were small. I can see how their hands held the whole world; how little fingers skimmed over Continue reading

How Fuchsias Look Artificial in a Good WayIM Tita GatrellWhen she diesI feel the needfor colourlike a child needscolour from cheap glitter pensuneven linesthat can never dryglobbed from tubes that give up the ghost too soonI want to print out her picturethe one in which she walks into the frame swinging at lifebeneath the huge Continue reading

parallel structuremoving to a parallel structure for self-deception and self-defencein the face of an uncertain futurehaving read the relevant literature on the cost of anti-establishments moving to a parallel structurewell prepared for misadventure ready for a series of accidentsin the face of an uncertain futureaware of the absurd and obscure existence informs essencemoving to a Continue reading

starter motorcrisp cul-de-sac sits emptyin outer suburban dawnthe starter coughs three timeson an empty stomachbefore sputtering aliveand wipers stagger swipeacross the frost-wet glassreverse—swing out, shift back and edgeforward keep the engine from stallingclear head, cold morningaches accrue, bunkering downlike old money gathering interestbehind wrought iron gatesor tessellated footpaths swept cleanof the fallen leaves from London Continue reading