Live Encounters Aotearoa New Zealand Poets & Writers March 2026
Panicking Upward, poems by Josiah Morgan.
Panicking Upward
More often having too much of something
stored away somewhere for safekeeping
where it might wait for a year or two
until the decision. Does this spark joy?
What are the measurements of your
house? Never liked being watered much.
Strange thoughts reflect but things.
The tide will rise, the tide will fall.
Then don’t let the boat rock you.
You have to have enough to be
the kind of person who likes to
keep things around. Been burning
the candle at both ends or anything
at any time, fluid. It’s easy to light a fire
without kindling. You just have to believe
it’ll start. Does this fit within
the measurements of your house?
How much does the room cost
and how much room is there? For example
an object might wait a year or two to find out
if it may be preferable in Tāmaki
if the present is unwrapped
if it’s stuck in this poem or…
Staying Put
today a man flirted
with leaving
each time
the bus stopped
so he could light up
without judgement
when he finally exited
he found himself boxed in
in lieu of other options
insofar as what to do
he took off
his suit jacket
and waved it around a bit
I mean to I say neither saw him light nor smoke the cigarette between his lips
Untitled
The voice ventriloquises.
The feeling rises.
There it is! In shards, tripping up,
dialling through static, tripped up!
There’s an invisible index to this world.
What else is time?
As a statue grows its patina
the inside speaks what the outside suffers.
The web’s the spider’s laboured sculpture
we destroy like oxygen.
Before long the body signifies all.
The tide will rise, the tide will fall.
Don’t forget
some things need neglect.
© Josiah Morgan
Josiah Morgan (Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Maniapoto) is an interdisciplinary artist based in Ōtautahi who has been described as “one of Aotearoa’s finest young writers.” His latest book is i’m still growing, released by Dead Bird Books in 2024. His other books were all released in the United States, including his hybrid text The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which was performed as a six-hour-long performance artwork in Auckland Pride 2024 and set to be reprinted by Index Press (Washington State University) in 2026. Also in 2026, his work Black Window is set to release as the featured chapbook in Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2026. He believes in magic and the power of words to transform.