I learned from my mother how to love
the living, to have plenty of vases on hand
in case you have to rush to the hospital
with peonies cut from the lawn, black ants
still stuck to the buds. I learned to save jars
large enough to hold fruit salad for a whole
grieving household, to cube home-canned pears
and peaches, to slice through maroon grape skins
and flick out the sexual seeds with a knife point.
I learned to attend viewing even if I didn’t know
the deceased, to press the moist hands
of the living, to look in their eyes and offer
sympathy, as though I understood loss even then.
I learned that whatever we say means nothing,
what anyone will remember is that we came.
I learned to believe I had the power to ease
awful pains materially like an angel.
Like a doctor, I learned to create
from another’s suffering my own usefulness, and once
you know how to do this, you can never refuse.
To every house you enter, you must offer
healing: a chocolate cake you baked yourself,
the blessing of your voice, your chaste touch.
Julia Kasdorf shows great appreciation to her mother in this poem. In the first line she says that "I learned from my mother how to love," implying that through her experiences with her mother, Julia was able to see how love played out through her life. She also went on to say "I learned to believe I had the power to ease," showing that easing is one of a mothers main roles. Throughout this poem, Julia continuously described what her mother did from healing to loving.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the poem because I agree with poem that you do learn a lot from your mother. I think that all of the different scenaries of what a mother teaches you turns you into a well-rounded person. I think Kasdorf's relaxing tone reflects all that a mother can teach us in a lifetime.
ReplyDeleteThis poem was very interesting because the author shows alot of appreciation for their mother "I learned to believe I had the power to ease
ReplyDeleteawful pains materially like an angel." This statement suggests that the author learned from their mother how to get rid of their pain.
At first this poem seemed lighter on the mood scale, but when Mr. Hill brought up lines such as "flick out the sexual seeds with a knife point" the mood definitely took a turn. It’s as if the mother inflicted pain on herself to feel and console the pain of others. In a way a lot of mothers are like that (I’m not trying to stereotype), it seems to go with the motherly instinct.
ReplyDeleteThe starting was sweet but then the next was a 360!!! I like how it went from happy to wierd in one line.
ReplyDeleteI like how the poet touches on the idea that actions speak louder than words, saying that "whatever we say means nothing,/ what anyone will remember is that we came." What I don't like so much is that the whole poem is about pain and suffering. The poet learned from her mother how to behave in hard times. But mothers teach us so much more than that, like how to love and be compassionate and see beauty in any situation. I think this should have been addressed as well.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this poem. I liked it because in the beginning the author is jus listing off a bunch of random tings that their mother taught them. Alot of those things seemed really general like attending the viewing even if you dont know the deceased. But the part where I think the turning point is (and my favorite line) is "I learned that whatever we say means nothing, what anyone will remember is that we came." At this point in the poem I get the feel that in some weird way the author had been talking about this topic the whole time and this is just the first time it was voiced. I think by listing the multiple things that the author learned from the mother emphasizes how much they rely and take from their mother, which is okay.
ReplyDelete