Quotes

• ‘There are just not enough straight lines’


  This quote indicates the chaos and fragility of the homes, the complete lack of order, and as it opens the poem it immediately addressed the issue in the slums of Mumbai.
• ’Beams balance crookedly on supports‘


  The enjambment shows the lack of balance and creates tension, it directly states the issue of stability, alliteration emphasises this lack of safety that ‘supports‘ are meant to give.
• ‘Nails clutch at open seams’


  This personification shows that they are desperately grasping onto their hope for a new life, and the ‘nails’ could symbolise their hope for for a safer, more stable structure; however the there is nothing for them to grasp.
• ‘Someone has squeezed a living space’


  The sibilance shows desperation, that they had desperately ‘squeezed’ a place to live there and the onomatopoeia of ‘squeezed’ shows how it was forced there, like the short stanza in the middle of the poem, ‘someone’ could be anyone who has hope can live there.
• ‘The whole structure leans dangerously‘


  The long line sticks out of the poem, mirroring the way parts of the buildings hang over each other in the slums, it highlights the danger and insecurity of the homes.
• ‘Bright thin walls of faith’


  The tension between the words ‘bright’ and ‘thin’ show that there’s not only hope but also fragility. The ‘walls’ of the egg shell makes the reader think of the buildings too, the fact they are ‘walls of faith’ suggests the eggshells, the ‘living space’ and faith are similar, they all involve optimism, but are all breakable.
• ‘Eggs in a wire basket’


  The symbolism of the eggs show they represent hope and the potential for a new life, but it is also fragile and easily broken, it also shows the trust they have in the basket. The eggs also represent the people living there and the danger they are under, if one thing went wrong, they could all die.