Sunny Side
it’s going to be the sunny side
from now / bright lights of dawn
7 kilometres / up a hill
the sunny side like my eggs / smiling back up
at me from my avocado
sourdough / homemade
because you start your day well
in the sunny side
from this point on it will be
daily affirmations / yellow sticky notes on the edge
of the bathroom mirror / lip oil
and subtle shimmer / it will be thriving
pot plants and photosynthesis
next time i get out of bed
it will be in one / smooth / motion
in the sunny side
my mind / will be as clear as my pantry shelves / nothing
rotting under the fridge lights’ glow but
even if there was / i’d be okay
and maybe / in the sunny side / we’ll be
amicably friends and I intentionally
single / and we will meet / every so often
for brunch at that / new place down the road
i will order myself a smoothie bowl
mango / banana / golden beets / rainbow chard
hemp hearts / my heart / a shot
of ginger / for that luminous glow you possess
in the sunny side
in the sunny side my new home
will be in an apartment block / near the top
big windows and square metres / closest to the light
i will rescue a retriever and name him apollo /
i will possess
a fish named sylvia / in a tank
at the end of the bath
i think
i might buy myself some sunscreen
for yoga in the park / when the light travels through
the dawn-rising / city-smog to glint off
the office high rise windows
and splint / er over the road
/ and the grass /
and the few dog-pissed / scrub-shrubs / to me
6 metres away from the only tree / because the shade
can’t touch me now
i will be downward-dogging and namaste-exhaling /
the waistband of my lululemons squeezing tighter /
and tighter and / tight / with every breath /
my eyes will / squint in the light /
that in the sunny side / will blind me
Molly Laurence
Year 12
Lincoln High School, Christchurch
👏👏👏👏