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Relationships - Coggle Diagram
Relationships
The Furthest Distances I've Travelled
relationships with people
being brief and temporary
"And what survives / of holidaying briefly in their lives"
relationship between emotional
and physical journeys
"that the furthest distances I've travelled
/ have been those between people"
linking back to the title
emotional relationships needing to be built over time
"the way my spine / curved under it like a meridian -"
simile to express geographical or internal curve
expresses physical and emotional
relationship between past and present self
present being more sophisticated
rhyme becoming more regular as poem progresses
use of satire on past behaviour
caesura at beginning contrasting enjambment at the end
contrast between personas
Material
relationship between mothers and children different
"She bought her own; I never did"
contrast between old and new society
"There's never a hanky up my sleeve.
I raised neglected-looking kids"
persona failing at motherhood for not being prepared
persona never able to fill mother's shoes
relationship with past restrained
use of end-stopping lines
pushes memories back to focus on the present
"Nostalgia only makes me old"
persona not wanting to relive moments as society has changed
handkerchiefs being symbol of motherhood and genes
"this this is your material / to do with,
daughter, what you will."
metaphor for mother and handkerchiefs
persona having choice as to how to continue in the future
poem written as an ode to the mother
Genetics
marriage between the parents physically represented by the child
poem written as a villanelle
ring representing marriage and genetics
"My body is their marriage register"
"We know our parents make us by our hands"
connection between parents and
children repeating through generations
"I'll bequeath my fingers, if you bequeath your palms"
The Deliverer
relationship between mothers and babies viewed as forced
"where mothers go to squeeze out life"
childbirth viewed as a chore / only job for women
"squeeze" - unrequited, forcing out
"watch body slither out from body"
babies presented as some form of parasite
"slither" serpent-like, female babies viewed as evil / sin
use of repulsive language
relationship between Indian girls and their society
"Because they were crippled or dark or girls"
girls on same inferior level as racial and disfigurement
society not needing girls / boys being the desired sex
"Covered in garbage, stuffed in bags"
comparison of girls to trash
"stuffed" - physically throwing the babies out
To My Nine-Year-Old Self
relationship with past self
present self being more fearful / wary
"I have fears enough for us both"
"time to hide down scared lanes / from men in cars after girl-children"
present self physically different
"I have spoiled this body we once shared"
"Look at the scars, and watch the way I move"
caesura for the present vs enjambment for past
still feeling some connection
use of personal pronouns
conversational and nostalgic tone
"I'd like to say we could be friends / but the truth is we have nothing in common."
On Her Blindness
mother's relationship with her blindness
relationship being
despised / incapable
"'It's living hell, to be honest'"
diabolic language for disability
metaphor / oxymoronic
repetition of "to be honest" / anaphora
use of enjambment
blindness always being there
mother managing to cope with
blindness / finding humour
"She kept her dignity, though, even when /
bumping into walls like a dodgem"
simile as method of using humour to cope
"Instead, she pretended to ignore / the void, or laughed it off"
use of irony to lighten mother's situation
poem written in blank verse
mimicking blindness
Effects
relationship between
mother and persona
persona leaving mother alone
"Not all the weeks I didn't come"
"The last words she had said were Please don't leave / But of course I left"
relationship being disjointed
/ conflicting
no regular rhyme scheme
quick pace
how life is fast
struggling to process mother's death
mix of tenses
reflecting on past and how it's affected the present
negative clauses when describing mother
persona feeling pity for the mother
Lack of difference between mother
before and after psychiatric ward
"Night after night and stared unseeing"
"Heaved herself upright, blinked and poured"
"And she took her pills and blinked and stared"
use of syndetic lists to contrast life before and after ward