A sensational debut that went on to be shortlisted in the PEN Book Awards and New Zealand Book Awards.

In better times
she had grown
blue dahlias . . . 

The impossibility of capturing the ephemeral
          and fickle word,

Her flesh had got stuck
in his canines . . . 

The joy of the raw and the cooked, the taste
          of the word,

Common sense eludes me now
like a finger tracing a trail of water
drops down
your
skin

The sexy word, the coercive word, the word
          that pretends it's a man.
I always wanted to be a cowgirl.

Author

Lynda Chanwai-Earle is a fourth-generation Chinese New Zealander with a background in the arts and public broadcasting. Over the last three decades Lynda’s award-winning poetry and plays have been published, produced and toured in national festivals and abroad. Lynda’s first book of poetry honeypants (Auckland University Press, 1994) was a finalist for Best First Book of Poetry for the PEN Book Awards and shortlisted for the New Zealand Book Awards in 1994. For more information, see Lynda's bio on the Playmarket website.