Invisible Structures: Finding Poetry in the Overlooked – THE SCAFFOLDER by Laura Ferries
Scaffolding is meant to be temporary. It rises, supports, and disappears—essential to creation, yet almost always ignored. For Liverpool poet and spoken word artist Laura Ferries, this became the perfect lens through which to explore permanence, impermanence, and the hidden frameworks in our lives.
The poem draws inspiration from her brother James, a scaffolder whose work took him high above Bramley-Moore Dock during the construction of Everton’s new stadium. He observed that scaffolding is unique in the construction trade: it is crucial, yet entirely erased once the building is complete. While in place, it’s often derided as an eyesore; afterward, its contribution vanishes entirely from memory. Ferries took this idea and spun it into verse, reflecting on the unseen labour that supports not only architecture but human endeavour, emotion, and personal growth.
The resulting work navigates the tension between what is celebrated and what is overlooked, turning a fleeting observation into a meditation on life’s hidden scaffolds. Her verse asks us to consider the structures that hold us upright and the quiet contributors we rarely acknowledge—whether in society, in relationships, or in our own journeys toward resilience.
Ferries has made a name for herself in Liverpool’s poetry scene with two self-published collections and numerous spoken-word appearances. She is the founder of Wordcraft Workshops, which brings creative writing into community spaces, and co-organises the multilingual poetry event Pangea with fellow poet Louise Evans. She also co-hosts Poetry on the Fringe as part of the Liverpool Fringe Festival alongside Louise and Dan Cullinan. Her work has been featured on BBC Radio and in numerous publications, consistently drawing attention to the everyday, the overlooked, and the transformative.
In Ferries’ hands, scaffolding is no longer just metal poles and planks—it’s a metaphor for the invisible threads that shape our lives, the support we take for granted, and the fleeting structures that quietly make everything else possible.
THE SCAFFOLDER
Before the masterpiece
the backbone,
bemoaned eyesore
metallic chrysalis,
what graft both
horizontal and vertical,
lift by lift
spirit level and spanner,
precise layer and order
constructed like stanza,
work of all-weather
whipping wind / scorching sun,
what goes up must come down
once the toil is done,
following the structure
comes the architecture
~le pièce célèbre~
it’s all of that but not this,
a ghostwork both seen
and unseen.
