Poetry

From Long Distance
By Tony Harrison

Though my mother was already two years dead
Dad kept her slippers warming by the gas,
put hot water bottles her side of the bed
and still went to renew her transport pass.

You couldn't just drop in. You had to phone.
He'd put you off an hour to give him time
to clear away her things and look alone
as though his still raw love were such a crime.

He couldn't risk my blight of disbelief
though sure that very soon he'd hear her key
scrape in the rusted lock and end his grief.
He knew she'd just popped out to get the tea.

I believe life ends with death, and that is all.
You haven't both gone shopping; just the same,
in my new black leather phone book there's your name
and the disconnected number I still call.

Sylvia Plath - Poetry

Daddy by Sylvia Plath

You do not do, you do not do
Any more, black shoe
In which I have lived like a foot
For thirty years, poor and white,
Barely daring to breathe or Achoo.

I have always been scared of you,
With your Luftwaffe, your gobbledygoo.
And your neat mustache
And your Aryan eye, bright blue.
Panzer-man, panzer-man, O You --
Not God but a swastika
So black no sky could squeak through.

You stand at the blackboard, daddy,
In the picture I have of you,
A cleft in your chin instead of your foot
But no less a devil for that, no not
Any less the black man who
Bit my pretty red heart in two.

AS Level Literature students, in the comments section please write an analysis of the imagery in the above stanzas based on the discussions we had in class. (Word limit 300 words)

School Poet

Dear all,
We have a budding poet in our midst. Could I please ask you to encourage her by giving her some feedback? Here's the poem:

Must I abide by those rules?
Or follow my heart, which is to follow you?

I am of this generation,
of free will and freedom of speech.
Not a puppet of society, of culture weighed upon me;
but of those who birth me, fed me, sheltered me?

How do I know where to draw the line
When to end this, or save myself from these binds.
Decisions, decisions, I can't think straight
Letting go of either one, just cannot be done.

Sacrifice you? never.
Yet it's hard to distiguish, between right and wrong
Do I cast upon me a shadow of doubt
break the trust they have in me?

Help me, guide me, sue me for all I care
Just tell me how to end this heartbreak
Of yours, of mine, of theirs
Be the light, shining through a sea of darkness;
grab my arms and yank me out of this pit.

Poem: I am not that woman

I am not that Woman by Kishwar Naheed

I am not that woman
Selling you socks and shoes!
Remember me, I am the one you hid
In your walls of stone, while you roamed
Free as the breeze, not knowing
That my voice cannot be smothered by stones,

I am the one you crushed
With the weight of custom and tradition
Not knowing
That light cannot be hidden in darkness.
Remember me,
I am the one in whose lap
You picked flowers
And planted thorns and embers
Not knowing
That chains cannot smother my fragrance

I am the woman
Whom you bought and sold
In the name of my own chastity
Not knowing
That I can walk on water
When I am drowning.

I am the one you married off
To get rid of a burden
Not knowing
That a nation of captive minds
Cannot be free.

I am the commodity you traded in,
My chastity, my motherhood, my loyalty.
Now it is time for me to flower free.
The woman on that poster, half-naked, selling socks and shoes-
No, no, I am not that woman!

Kishwar Naheed is a famous poet from Pakistan. I'd like to hear your interpretation and analysis of this poem. What's the point she's making? What is the tone of the poem? Discuss the meaning of the metaphors, similes, analogies, and imagery she uses and what effect they have on the reader.