INTRODUCTION

FAMILY AND RELATIONSHIPS

 

                                                                                                Relations among family members or between

                                                                                    generations or friends are filled with emotions of every

                                                                                    extreme. It is difficult to write poems about family rela-

                                                                                    tionships because it is hard to get enough distance.

                                                                                    There is also a danger of becoming too abstract and

                                                                                    Unclear about the relationship. Poets employ techniques

                                                                                    such as sense imagery, simile, metaphors and alliteration

                                                                                    to avoid abstraction and to allow the reader to enter the

                                                                                    intimacy of the relationship.

 

 

My Daughter Approaches Adolescence

 

You dance

on the dizzy edge of things

already you dream departure

as years ago

I dreamed divorce.

 

            When I was where

            you are

            my momma said

            go slow

            she said

            the water has holes in it

            and the fish fall through

            she said

            no one should swim---

            not now

            with the sun on the water

 

Little guest of the garden

My brown and downy mouse

I know you can swim

 

I remember when you came to me

from the watery place

and all I could do

was get out of your way

give you up

to the pale room

and the gloved hands

 

            And now you will swim

            Through coves and bays and open seas

            You will wear water proudly

            And I like a well-used anchor will bear

               witness to your shining tides.

 

 

      Elizabeth McKim  Poet

 

Who is talking to whom?

What memories does the mother recall to help her cope with the changes her daughter is going through?

How does each stanza represents a different time period?

How many times is water alluded to in this poem, and what does it represent in each instance?

What language adds to the dreamlike tone of the poem?