Remember our sex is what makes us different
By: Nathan Joe
if and when they take it away. if and when they sanitise it. if and when they call it filth. if and when and they treat it less than the act it is. law by law. piece by piece. bit by bit. dismantle us as guts still ache. pleasure principles ruined. if and when they never dare. if and when nuance eludes them. if and when they war against us. while u can still live laugh lust. remember ur sex is what makes us different.
As rights are stripped and lives rendered lesser call it fantasia. as half sighs are sighed and meanings twisted call it liberasian. as they scream think iv the children and pray 2 the heavens call it transcendence. as amyl is sniffed yet still banned call it lawless. as placate replaces dissent call it wild stay wild. rearrange fragments, replace text where needed. remember r sex is what makes a difference.
with what is left behind shift syllables and misspell meaning making. let what is implied shine expansive. make manifest new beginnings and swap like with like as english glitches. spit with spit till shame bleeds empty. that sex is what makes the we distinctive. the past special.
and even when little iz left. all that iz left might be vacant meaning empty meaning pained meaning failed meaning petty meaning bit by bit meaning held tight till we find it again meaning. think back what it enacted. what we betwixt and between the law with. that it gave delight. that it gave identity. that it gave whakapapa.
and think what whakapapa gayv. whakapapa that gayv light. that gayv wit. that gayv camp. that gayv pain. that gayv xtc. think back think way way back 2 bginning.
wail it badly wail it mythic wail it qw3a
Nathan Joe (he/him) is a Chinese-Kiwi playwright (2021 Bruce Mason Playwriting Award) and performance poet (2020 National Slam Champion). Most recently, his play Scenes from a Yellow Peril had its world premiere at the ASB Waterfront Theatre in June. Previous work includes curating BIPOC spoken word event DIRTY PASSPORTS at Basement Theatre, co-creating Slay the Dragon or Save the Dragon or Neither with A Slightly Isolated Dog, and directing Yang/Young/杨 for Auckland Theatre Company. He is the newly appointed Creative Director of Auckland Pride.