rose peoples
structural integrity
I am often
shaky
poorly grounded
on rotted foundations
I am only now
learning
how to stand
upright
How to grow
upwards
towards the sun
I am only
now learning
how to put down roots
Roots
that aren’t a tangle
in a too-small pot
I am only
just leaning
against you
You,
unwavering
still
amid the clinical lights
the frantic beeps
the smell of disinfectant
I think, in architecture
there is some rule
about how weight can rest
diagonal
against a vertical line
I think there is something about
the way pillars hold up roofs
about load-bearing walls, about columns
I think there is something
important in that
something to do with the way
my tired self tilts
towards you
Something you could
put in numbers
to mathematically quantify
whatever
this is
I think
maybe life
could be simply
a quest for structural integrity
So I am
learning
to put down
roots
Rose Peoples is from Te Awakairangi/Lower Hutt. She is a student at Victoria University and having finished her law degree last year, decided that the logical next step was to embark upon a Masters in Literature. She is a bookseller at Good Books. Her work has previously appeared in Cordite, Mimicry, NZ Poetry Shelf and Starling.