Poukahangatus Quotes

“wtn boys soft wellington boys in six hundred dollar leather want to send me their poetry & tie me to their beds so I tell them I like their fathers instead & listen to their aluminium skulls crack like coke cans and thunder.”
― Tayi Tibble, Poukahangatus: Poems

“We crave otherness. We hate otherness.”
― Tayi Tibble, Poukahangatus: Poems

“It’s the boy who cried wolf, but in reverse you cry sheep and nobody believes your bleating.”
― Tayi Tibble, Poukahangatus: Poems

“When she was little and lived by the sea, she swam a lot and was fearless with her body. She let herself be thrashed and turned about by wave after wave, this way and that way.”
― Tayi Tibble, Poukahangatus: Poems

“all anyone ever does around here is / grow weed and stare / into burnt-out houses / into the rabbit hole / into the cards / into the skin / and roll their cars / their eyes / their r’s / their cigarettes / and kick snow / kick rugby balls / kick each other / kick bad habits / only to find another / like an eel / in the creek / in the backyard / in the dark / in winter / and try to kill it on the rocks / chase the girls / in a shed / a bathtub / a bed / with wet fingers / eyes / tongues / and T-shirts / from spilled beer / spilled cum / spilled blood / spilled secrets / bad boys / with bad skin / bad tattoos / and bad reputations / because here / all anyone ever does is / swear / across their hearts / at referees / at other drivers / taking to the road / cos all anyone ever wants around here is / out / of home / of the closet / of the relationship / of the sixth-storey window / open it / to the cold / to the clouds / to the sky / cos all anyone ever does around here is / dive /”
― Tayi Tibble, Poukahangatus: Poems

“Sometimes I want to scream at him, you can’t just call your problems something beautiful like a gallery,”
― Tayi Tibble, Poukahangatus: Poems

“In the car park, we all smoked back tears with another cigarette pacifier like babies numbed on a nicotine nipple.”
― Tayi Tibble, Poukahangatus: Poems

“Every relationship leaves behind a sticky residue, hard to wash away without chemical help. I prefer liquor and looks so strong that they make my eyes water. But whatever keeps the party lit and the lushes from gushing on the dancefloor.”
― Tayi Tibble, Poukahangatus: Poems

“However, it is less known that Medusa was a master carver, engraving her existence in bone forever. Anything else said about her is a rumour and a violent appropriation. In fact, it must be difficult not to sprout a head of snakes in a society that constantly hisses at you.”
― Tayi Tibble, Poukahangatus: Poems

“you were going to be a proper model, but you became a mother instead.”
― Tayi Tibble, Poukahangatus: Poems

“We crave otherness.
We hate otherness.”
― Tayi Tibble, Poukahangatus: Poems

“it makes you do things out of character
or, it would if you had character”
― Tayi Tibble, Poukahangatus: Poems

“you notice he tends to talk
loudly when he doesn’t want to listen”
― Tayi Tibble, Poukahangatus: Poems

“cos all anyone ever wants around here is / out / of home / of the closet / of the relationship/ of the sixth-storey window”
― Tayi Tibble, Poukahangatus: Poems

“A Step-by-Step Guide to Dying
Relax. Wash hair in tears. Rinse thoroughly with intergenerational trauma.”
― Tayi Tibble, Poukahangatus: Poems

“my nana is a wallflower, but a flower nonetheless.”
― Tayi Tibble, Poukahangatus: Poems

“Sometimes I want to scream at him, you can't just call your problems something beautiful like a gallery, David.”
― Tayi Tibble, Poukahangatus: Poems