The look of those letters, softened
And worn at the edges, opened,
Read and refolded so often.
Letters from my father.
This poem captures the essence of the idea that we carry the items and memories that are most important to use close. The fact that the narrator’s mother had these letters in her handbag indicates how important they were in her life. In this way, this poem captures human nature and our inclination to hold our dearest memories and objects close to us at all times. For it is these memories and items that provide us comfort. In other words, the fact that this woman kept these letters in her handbag indicates just how much she loved him and how she carries his memory with her at all times, in a treasured and private location—her handbag.
[…] lurid bruises on the frightened faces
and naked bodies of men, women, children
herded into a forest clearing or
towards a siding where a train has halted
and the trucks are waiting.
In the closing stanzas of this poem, the narrator draws an alarming parallel between the crocuses that are growing in her garden to the bruises that appear on the skin and faces of abused men, women, and children. The narrator may be recalling either her own experiences with abuse, or may be calling upon the horrors of human trafficking, wherein innocent men, women, and children and kidnapped, abused, and shipped away, never to be seen again.
Ageing means smiling at babies
in their pushchairs and strollers
(wondering if I look as crazy
as Virginia or Algernon –
though I don't plan to bite!)
Realising I'm smiling at strangers.
In this bittersweet poem, the narrator reflects upon the thoughts and actions that now indicate that she has reached an old age. In this stanza, she realizes that she finds herself smiling at babies in strollers—individuals who have just begun their lives. She also smiles at strangers and takes stock of her life in different ways. In this way, this stanza characterizes how ageing alters the way we view both ourselves and others. The narrator finds herself smiling at strangers and admiring babies, whose lives have just begun. She reminiscences on her time when she was younger and didn’t take stock of such things.
When I saw that young girl on her blades,
wind in her hair, sun on her face,
like a magazine illustration
from childhood days, racing
her boyfriend along the pavement:
- then I understood ageing.
Once again, the narrator reflects upon her life and the many indicators that now help her to realize that she is ageing and growing older. In this stanza, she observes a young girl roller blading down the street. As the narrator watches her, she reflects upon her younger days, when she too used to roller blade down the street, the wind blowing through her hair. She notes that the young woman looks like an image from a magazine—her youthful figure and attitude radiates around her. It makes the narrator long for her own youthful days. All of these memories help the narrator to realize that she now understands what it truly means to age.
