Exploring a cluster
A Portable Paradise
And if I speak of Paradise
A Journalist repeatedly asks me about race in a poetry interview
collective theme of family
"i am speaking about my grandfather"
"my grandmother could curse more than any sailor"
"outdrank big men"
"she watched them through the window. reclaiming all the news"
"she had something i could use in my poems"
grandmother presented as a powerful figure
relying on his familial relationships for support
grandmother is protecting him
grandmother presented in past tense "could "
racial opposition created
first person, narrative, both types of enjambment
"about my father"
"speak of Paradise"
"shirt jacs" "revolutionaries"
male figures in his life attributed to masculine concepts
inspirational, looking up to his father as a revolutionary of sorts
couplets throughout
repeated sentence starters
end of line emphasis used to highlight the nouns all with quite masculine connotations
first person voice to emphasise the personal feel
ellipsis at the end suggesting there is another generation to come - him/ reader?
"speaking of my grandmother"
"they can't steal it, she'd say"
told me to carry it always
"fresh hope // of morning"
referencing white washing?
she's a physical manifestation of his ancestry
puts material value on memories
end of line emphasis
direct address, first person - synthetic personalisation
enjambment and caesuras
natural imagery to remind the reader of the world outside social issues or of humanity's original ways of life,"fresh fish"
enjambment (both types)
adoration and love for grandparents
past tense
first person
end of line emphasis
racial opposition + needing protection
synthetic personalisation
value put on ancestry/memories