New Zealand poet Elizabeth Smither's "Plaits" tells a symbolic story of collaboration and justice. In this short poem, a speaker remembers how she used to wear her hair in two plaits (or braids). The plait on one side of her head was much thicker than the plait on the other—but tied together with a ribbon, the two supported each other, becoming "strong together." The speaker uses this image to imagine how society might ideally work: when the weak and the strong join together, the poem suggests, their strength only multiplies. Smither first collected this poem in her 2013 book The Blue Coat.
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I had two ...
... thin trickling river
but they were ...
... and thick muscle
a lesson that ...
... it was distributed.
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
A Brief Biography — Learn more about Smither's work via Poetry New Zealand.
An Interview with Smither — Read an interview with Smither from the Academy of New Zealand Literature.
More of Smither's Work — Listen to Smither reading some of her poems aloud.
Smither on Her Favorite Writers — Watch a short video interview with Smither in which she discusses some of her favorite writers.