Available in Ebook

Extract

A moving account in poetry of one woman’s pathway through violence and addiction.

at six, my mother’s boyfriend
forced his fat hairy hand
inside my heart-shaped face
for eating too many Fruit Bursts

we bought a tube of them at BP
wrapped individually in pastel wax papers
which littered the backseat
like sweet-smelling confetti 

his hand tasted
of salt
a metallic tang of rust
the hot edge of petrol
from the pump still lingering
on his fingers

My Honest Poem is a moving and powerful poetry collection that follows recovery from a life fractured by family violence and addiction. It is a coming-of-age story of a young New Zealand woman rebuilding strength and hope in the spaces left by trauma.

Author

Jess Fiebig is a Christchurch-based poet whose work has featured in Best New Zealand Poems 2018, Poetry New Zealand Yearbook 2018 and 2019, Landfall, Turbine | Kapohau and takahē. She was runner-up in the 2019 Sarah Broom Poetry Prize.

Endorsements

‘These poems are undeniably personal and often deeply painful: childhood neglect, abuse, alcoholism, physical hurt, depression and self-harm are their subject matter. But – through linguistic skill and sheer intelligence – Fiebig crafts a lyrical beauty from unpromising material. You finish reading her work feeling uplifted by the writer’s courage and honesty.’ – Fiona Farrell