A new poem from Paula Harris. how to cook cheesecake on a bbq you’ll need to borrow a cheesecake pan from your former best friend who borrowed your cheesecake pan two years ago, he just needed it for a few days, there was a dinner party coming up, a dinner party you weren’t invited to, … Read more
Beige and on-trend? Not for this poet. Paula Harris gives some real-life, applicable decor advice. Last night I was procrastinating and avoiding working on some poem revisions, because being a poet means that when you have other things to do, you write a poem, and when you have a poem to work on, you do … Read more
The four days Paula Harris spent in the psych ward against her will, with only the overwhelming negativity of her own depressed brain for company, ‘breached the legislation’. It also scarred her forever. It was a Friday when I went into the psych ward. Friday the 13th. Yesterday was Sunday. Yesterday was the second anniversary … Read more
Prolific, award-winning Palmerston North poet Paula Harris somehow manages to be stroppy and properly vulnerable all at once. Here, she writes about her first slam competition – and why she cried all the way home. I am old enough to have given birth to most of the people here. Sure, there’s a couple of parents … Read more
A chance encounter leads to a Christmas-phobe having a magical dinner with the first lady of New Zealand food. If you’re short on time, here’s all you’re really wanting to know: the food was amazing, and this is a family that truly enjoys spending time with one another. Back track #1: Christmas was not a … Read more
A personal essay by Paula Harris: “I was admitted, under the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992, to the secure unit of the psychiatric ward just after noon on Friday…” Content warning: This essay contains references to suicidal ideation which may be confronting for some readers. It was Friday the 13th. That isn’t … Read more
Writer and poet Paula Harris reflects on a childhood friend’s experience with abuse – and how her own upbringing affected how she viewed that abuse. Content warning: this essay discusses the physical and emotional abuse of children. Her name was Allie. Well, no, actually, it wasn’t. Despite never having changed a name for anyone in … Read more
All week this week we present new verse, to celebrate National Poetry Day on Friday. Today’s poet: Paula Harris of Palmerston North. if I were a queen, I would start wars out of sexual frustration I wouldn’t be a virgin queen – obviously – but I would be known to become incredibly tetchy … Read more
New verse by Palmerston North poet Paula Harris. the life expectancy of a cloud I try to calculate if there is any point to health insurance or retirement savings or planning ahead women in New Zealand have an average life expectancy of 83.3 years giving us 3.3 years more than men … Read more
A personal memoir of mental health, by Paula Harris. Content warning: this essay discusses severe mental health issues, including suicidal ideation. On Tuesdays I go to the pharmacy. That’s the day when I pick up that week’s worth of antidepressants. Someone somewhere thought it’d be fine to manufacture an antidepressant that people can overdose on. … Read more