Who is in your chosen family?
This poem considers the lines of loyalty in families and how particular memories, like a grandmother keeping “wishbones from chicken carcasses / in an empty margarine container on top of the fridge,” can be a portal to love. The nan in this poem is a character of generosity and permission, and we imagine her through stories of trips, funerals, and visits.
Tayi Tibble – (Te Whānau-ā-Apanui/Ngāti Porou) is a writer and poet who lives in Wellington, New Zealand. In 2017 she completed a Masters in Creative Writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters, Victoria University of Wellington, where she was the recipient of the Adam Foundation Prize. Poūkahangatus is her first book.
Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org.
Christian Wiman — All My Friends Are Finding New Beliefs
Carlos Andrés Gómez — Father
Ellen Bass — Bone of My Bone and Flesh of My Flesh
R.A. Villanueva — Life Drawing
Zaffar Kunial — The Word
Dilruba Ahmed — Phase One
Layli Long Soldier — WHEREAS my eyes land on the shoreline
Chen Chen — I Invite My Parents to a Dinner Party
Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill — Ceist na Teangan (The Language Issue)
Aracelis Girmay — Consider the Hands that Write this Letter
Paul Tran — The Cave
Philip Metres — One Tree
Roger Robinson — A Portable Paradise
Seán Hewitt — Suibhne is wounded, and confesses
Meleika Gesa-Fatafehi — Say My Name
Lucille Clifton — song at midnight
Chris Abani — The New Religion
Molly McCully Brown — Transubstantiation
Natalie Diaz — Of Course She Looked Back
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