I write poetry
and I am a psychic I know what you’re
all thinking it’s either one of these
three things first cool you’re right
stuff or a second that’s amazing how you
write and infuse inspiration from our
mundane life and make words dance on
paper or third oh you’re right
is it even good poetry my left could be
your right so I don’t know but what I do
know is I write as there is this
pounding inside my ribs that I need to
let out let out like a bag of rice with
a hole at the bottom there goes all my
fields these poems go out and dress
themselves to the nines waking me up as
if it’s New Years Eve
each night little endure cranial
explosions neural fireworks I am a weary
traveler wanting to unload all these
poems I’ve gathered throughout my
escapades at the dairy and I do share my
poems with my friends my entire being on
this paper and they read it I love it
when people read in front of me because
you’ll never know if they’re faking it
and they’re just being really polite and
my friends tell me your poems don’t
rhyme and I say yeah my poetry is this
ever evolving entity never ending with
stories from funny too embarrassing to
tragic comedies my poetry is me this
flawed human being who craves life and
just wants to walk on this earth and
proudly declare that I love Marmite
amongst other things and I will write
these on a poem and I will find a way to
equate my genuine love for Marmite to
the insatiable appeal of fly for me
poetry is all about connecting things as
if knitting a patchwork sweater holding
these human experiences and airing these
out like a spring cleaning of your own
emotions connecting with people opening
minds comforting readers and letting you
know that you are not alone in your love
for Marmite I write poetry and I love it
I think poetry meets differently to
people for some its twinkle twinkle
little star and for others it’s the
bread and butter of their existence I am
passionate about poetry because it
allows me to express myself and portray
a new perspective to my readers I was
born and raised in the Philippines and
my family and I emigrated to New Zealand
we saw snow for the first time two weeks
after we arrived here and it was epic we
grabbed our jackets ran outside playing
in the snow and took photos we tried to
make a snow angel like the ones they do
in the movies but we couldn’t do it the
snow was not thick enough we also tried
to make a snowman again not like in the
movies we were out in the snow for
around 10 minutes then we tapped out it
was too cold so we instantly ran back
inside it was the perfect way to be
welcome to New Zealand I know you all
know the feelings of being new to a new
place it’s such an exhilarating time and
everything looks so exciting yet
underneath all this excitement there is
this quiet anxiety bubbling inside of
whether you will fit in or not for us
coming here was a brand new experience
everything was different the lifestyle
the weather the accident
the culture were all different learning
to adjust to our new home was fun yet
awkward and funny as well and I write
about these in my poems writers write
about topics that are closest to them or
on things they want to shed a light on
as a renowned poet Percy Bysshe Shelley
said poetry is a mirror which makes
beautiful that which is distorted as an
example let’s take this famous poem by
William Carlos Williams called the red
wheelbarrow so much depends upon a red
wheelbarrow glazed with rain water
beside the white chickens this poem
resonates with so many readers as it’s
short it redirects your attention to the
seemingly innocuous object and get you
to appreciate its importance and use and
show you that there is beauty and
serenity in the quiet and simple
atmosphere of a wheelbarrow outside in
the rain Ashley young a phenomenal Kiwi
poet writes so truthfully about these
all too familiar human emotions and
creates an air of magic around everyday
activities a fine example of this would
be this excerpt from her poem how I get
ready she wrote and I think of the
cruelty of song writers as I get ready
how music makes their words sound better
than they really are
how our feelings make music seem better
than it really is and how the difficulty
of getting ready is a pure bitter
difficulty like calculus she reminds us
that underneath all this facade we put
up we
all have a vulnerable side in us and it
is okay to let down our defenses as this
is what makes us humans with all our
brilliance and nervous energy coexisting
within us it’s encouraging to know as
well that someone feels the same way and
has articulated it in such a creative
and elegant manner and yes sometimes it
is quite a task to get up and get ready
for today but there’s always a silver
lining in great days like this and
optimism can go a long way in this
example in Ashley’s poem cold process
all the friends we lost to
self-improvement will come back to us
strangely polished but otherwise the
same all of the decisions we make in the
small hours to leave to stay will also
be correct when we wake again people
write about things that are closest to
them and for me I write about my own
experiences as a young Filipino
immigrant living here starting my new
life here was an adventure for my
classmates back in high school
everything about me was different
because I grew up in a completely
different culture English was not my
first language so whenever I spoke in
English it was quite clumsy he was
challenging being the new girl and being
fresh of the boat on top of that that’s
why I am so thankful to my friends who
looked beyond my appearance and my
clumsy English and made the effort to
include me in their circle it was
fascinating how interested they were and
how I grew up in the Philippines because
for them it’s a whole new world some of
our most memorable conversations would
be us comparing and contrasting our own
childhoods and like a Venn diagram
there’s always a similarity right in the
middle we
bonded over high school musical in
Hannah Montana and we talked about our
dreams our worries and our plans for the
future we grew up in different parts of
the world yet somehow we liked and felt
the same things and they think this is
what connects us as humans as yes we
have our own unique experiences but one
way or another we can still relate and
learn from each other there are so many
people from different backgrounds living
in New Zealand and it is awesome I love
learning about people and their cultures
and what they’ve gone through and they
share such astonishing life lessons
knowing and appreciating our own
differences broadens our perspectives
and reminds us that this world is so big
that there are so many stories and
anecdotes out there just waiting to be
heard and for me
poetry lets me share my own stories it
warms me up that these few people who
read my poems have had the chance to get
to know my culture a bit more and know
what it’s like living in a new country
with all the complexities and funny
nuances we should all strive to be
curious be open and be willing to listen
so here’s a challenge for you all talk
to your friends whose backgrounds are
different from yours and ask them hey
what is it like being you trust me it’ll
be an eye-opening conversation you’ll
know your friend more and your bond will
be so much stronger with this genuine
renewed interest in each other as for me
I will keep on writing and keep on
sharing my own stories and experiences
to help open and broaden minds out there
and I will keep on writing about the
feelings of being new
and miniscule of being the new Filipino
girl at year 12 during stats class with
the teacher calling my name and the
girls at the front saying does she even
go here with me at the back with my shy
arm too timid to go higher yes I’ve been
here in this class for the past two
weeks already and I am sorry I need to
speak out more next time I am sorry that
I needed to repeat myself three times
for you to understand me
being a migrant at sixteen is a
bond-esque move a serpentine navigation
in a land we only saw on TV my
grandmother said to never forget our
roots our black-haired respectful rosary
clutching roots I’ve dyed my hair
several times since we’ve been here but
it always goes back to black how I love
my roots my big dreaming hard-working
roots my rice eating pandas all eating
roots my parents took a leap and aimed
for the sky and they landed here on the
land of the long white cloud sweat and
faith led them to this bright bright
view we bask in the glory of days before
seasons and the linguistic complexity of
Janna and now yeah and adapted the new
anthem off she’ll be all right
I blow on my pie twice I push my tongue
for words to say dress Lord is my mum’s
long-lost child our dinners ervice
talking in this concoction of English
and Visayan and Tagalog and yes my
accent is still off and
still stumble when he speak in English
but I hope when you see me and with
everyone else you meet that you see a
story worth knowing thank you [Applause]
and I am a psychic I know what you’re
all thinking it’s either one of these
three things first cool you’re right
stuff or a second that’s amazing how you
write and infuse inspiration from our
mundane life and make words dance on
paper or third oh you’re right
is it even good poetry my left could be
your right so I don’t know but what I do
know is I write as there is this
pounding inside my ribs that I need to
let out let out like a bag of rice with
a hole at the bottom there goes all my
fields these poems go out and dress
themselves to the nines waking me up as
if it’s New Years Eve
each night little endure cranial
explosions neural fireworks I am a weary
traveler wanting to unload all these
poems I’ve gathered throughout my
escapades at the dairy and I do share my
poems with my friends my entire being on
this paper and they read it I love it
when people read in front of me because
you’ll never know if they’re faking it
and they’re just being really polite and
my friends tell me your poems don’t
rhyme and I say yeah my poetry is this
ever evolving entity never ending with
stories from funny too embarrassing to
tragic comedies my poetry is me this
flawed human being who craves life and
just wants to walk on this earth and
proudly declare that I love Marmite
amongst other things and I will write
these on a poem and I will find a way to
equate my genuine love for Marmite to
the insatiable appeal of fly for me
poetry is all about connecting things as
if knitting a patchwork sweater holding
these human experiences and airing these
out like a spring cleaning of your own
emotions connecting with people opening
minds comforting readers and letting you
know that you are not alone in your love
for Marmite I write poetry and I love it
I think poetry meets differently to
people for some its twinkle twinkle
little star and for others it’s the
bread and butter of their existence I am
passionate about poetry because it
allows me to express myself and portray
a new perspective to my readers I was
born and raised in the Philippines and
my family and I emigrated to New Zealand
we saw snow for the first time two weeks
after we arrived here and it was epic we
grabbed our jackets ran outside playing
in the snow and took photos we tried to
make a snow angel like the ones they do
in the movies but we couldn’t do it the
snow was not thick enough we also tried
to make a snowman again not like in the
movies we were out in the snow for
around 10 minutes then we tapped out it
was too cold so we instantly ran back
inside it was the perfect way to be
welcome to New Zealand I know you all
know the feelings of being new to a new
place it’s such an exhilarating time and
everything looks so exciting yet
underneath all this excitement there is
this quiet anxiety bubbling inside of
whether you will fit in or not for us
coming here was a brand new experience
everything was different the lifestyle
the weather the accident
the culture were all different learning
to adjust to our new home was fun yet
awkward and funny as well and I write
about these in my poems writers write
about topics that are closest to them or
on things they want to shed a light on
as a renowned poet Percy Bysshe Shelley
said poetry is a mirror which makes
beautiful that which is distorted as an
example let’s take this famous poem by
William Carlos Williams called the red
wheelbarrow so much depends upon a red
wheelbarrow glazed with rain water
beside the white chickens this poem
resonates with so many readers as it’s
short it redirects your attention to the
seemingly innocuous object and get you
to appreciate its importance and use and
show you that there is beauty and
serenity in the quiet and simple
atmosphere of a wheelbarrow outside in
the rain Ashley young a phenomenal Kiwi
poet writes so truthfully about these
all too familiar human emotions and
creates an air of magic around everyday
activities a fine example of this would
be this excerpt from her poem how I get
ready she wrote and I think of the
cruelty of song writers as I get ready
how music makes their words sound better
than they really are
how our feelings make music seem better
than it really is and how the difficulty
of getting ready is a pure bitter
difficulty like calculus she reminds us
that underneath all this facade we put
up we
all have a vulnerable side in us and it
is okay to let down our defenses as this
is what makes us humans with all our
brilliance and nervous energy coexisting
within us it’s encouraging to know as
well that someone feels the same way and
has articulated it in such a creative
and elegant manner and yes sometimes it
is quite a task to get up and get ready
for today but there’s always a silver
lining in great days like this and
optimism can go a long way in this
example in Ashley’s poem cold process
all the friends we lost to
self-improvement will come back to us
strangely polished but otherwise the
same all of the decisions we make in the
small hours to leave to stay will also
be correct when we wake again people
write about things that are closest to
them and for me I write about my own
experiences as a young Filipino
immigrant living here starting my new
life here was an adventure for my
classmates back in high school
everything about me was different
because I grew up in a completely
different culture English was not my
first language so whenever I spoke in
English it was quite clumsy he was
challenging being the new girl and being
fresh of the boat on top of that that’s
why I am so thankful to my friends who
looked beyond my appearance and my
clumsy English and made the effort to
include me in their circle it was
fascinating how interested they were and
how I grew up in the Philippines because
for them it’s a whole new world some of
our most memorable conversations would
be us comparing and contrasting our own
childhoods and like a Venn diagram
there’s always a similarity right in the
middle we
bonded over high school musical in
Hannah Montana and we talked about our
dreams our worries and our plans for the
future we grew up in different parts of
the world yet somehow we liked and felt
the same things and they think this is
what connects us as humans as yes we
have our own unique experiences but one
way or another we can still relate and
learn from each other there are so many
people from different backgrounds living
in New Zealand and it is awesome I love
learning about people and their cultures
and what they’ve gone through and they
share such astonishing life lessons
knowing and appreciating our own
differences broadens our perspectives
and reminds us that this world is so big
that there are so many stories and
anecdotes out there just waiting to be
heard and for me
poetry lets me share my own stories it
warms me up that these few people who
read my poems have had the chance to get
to know my culture a bit more and know
what it’s like living in a new country
with all the complexities and funny
nuances we should all strive to be
curious be open and be willing to listen
so here’s a challenge for you all talk
to your friends whose backgrounds are
different from yours and ask them hey
what is it like being you trust me it’ll
be an eye-opening conversation you’ll
know your friend more and your bond will
be so much stronger with this genuine
renewed interest in each other as for me
I will keep on writing and keep on
sharing my own stories and experiences
to help open and broaden minds out there
and I will keep on writing about the
feelings of being new
and miniscule of being the new Filipino
girl at year 12 during stats class with
the teacher calling my name and the
girls at the front saying does she even
go here with me at the back with my shy
arm too timid to go higher yes I’ve been
here in this class for the past two
weeks already and I am sorry I need to
speak out more next time I am sorry that
I needed to repeat myself three times
for you to understand me
being a migrant at sixteen is a
bond-esque move a serpentine navigation
in a land we only saw on TV my
grandmother said to never forget our
roots our black-haired respectful rosary
clutching roots I’ve dyed my hair
several times since we’ve been here but
it always goes back to black how I love
my roots my big dreaming hard-working
roots my rice eating pandas all eating
roots my parents took a leap and aimed
for the sky and they landed here on the
land of the long white cloud sweat and
faith led them to this bright bright
view we bask in the glory of days before
seasons and the linguistic complexity of
Janna and now yeah and adapted the new
anthem off she’ll be all right
I blow on my pie twice I push my tongue
for words to say dress Lord is my mum’s
long-lost child our dinners ervice
talking in this concoction of English
and Visayan and Tagalog and yes my
accent is still off and
still stumble when he speak in English
but I hope when you see me and with
everyone else you meet that you see a
story worth knowing thank you [Applause]
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