My Honest Poem

<p><em>at six, my mother’s boyfriend </em><em>forced his fat hairy hand </em><em>inside my heart-shaped face </em><em>for eating too many Fruit Bursts</em></p> <p><em>we bought a tube of them at BP </em><em>wrapped individually in pastel wax papers </em><em>which littered the backseat </em><em>like sweet-smelling confetti</em><em> </em></p> <p><em>his hand tasted </em><em>of salt </em><em>a metallic tang of rust </em><em>the hot edge of petrol </em><em>from the pump still lingering </em><em>on his fingers</em></p> <p><em> </em></p> <p><em>My Honest Poem</em> is a moving and powerful poetry collection that follows recovery from a life fractured by family violence and addiction. It is a coming-of-age story of a young New Zealand woman rebuilding strength and hope in the spaces left by trauma.</p>