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rhys feeney

spacious family home ($960 pw)

for lauren


the first thing u notice when u walk into my place
is how big the landing is
u r so used to spending time in tht
shoebox apt with no natural light
tht costs u half ur weekly income
u spread both arms wide
like the bit in The Shawshank Redemption
tht every nz student studies
when what’s-his-name crawls out of the sewer
into the rain & finds ugh his redemption
u smile & twirl happy to be out of the city for a moment
u r right: it is like a ~whole room~
& i have this Courtney Barnett moment like
wtf was going through their heads when they built it
did they imagine having grand dinner parties
did they imagine coat racks overpriced prints
& tasteful wallpaper how would they feel
knowing this house used to be a party house &
now every time it gets sunny it smells like weed
did they know it would be rented & subletted
did they think when they put in single-glazed windows
abt the fact tht it would one day be worth one point two
tht every morning i would get up & wipe
the condensation off the windows & i know i should be sad
about it but i keep thinking of tht tiktok trend
where between wipes u see another version of urself
& just for a moment i imagine a world where
i ram nails deep into the plasterboard walls
to hang up a small picture
maybe of a tree or some animals


Rhys Feeney (they/them) lives & teaches in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Rhys’ collection ‘soyboy’, is available as part of AUP New Poets 7 (2020).