+ Michael says, “These poems are from the creative portion of my PhD dissertation, which juxtaposes two time periods in New Zealand's history -- 1) 1942-44 ("The American Invasion") a period in which large numbers of American troops were stationed in New Zealand as a deterrent to Japanese invasion as the majority of the nation's young men were already fighting abroad in Europe and 2) the first Trump administration, during which diplomacy between New Zealand and America were at a nadir, the pandemic and broken global supply chains created austerity reminiscent of the war period, and a new invasion of Americans was under way from both politically motivated expats and the millionaire/billionaire class looking to create bolthole compounds amidst New Zealand's relative calm and isolation. I graduated six months prior to the 2024 election, with the hope that this collection would be a historical record of of two especially turbulent geopolitical periods for NZ, only to wake up on November 6th, 2024 to discover that this project may be ongoing for some time to come.”