Genetics Flashcards
My father’s in my fingers, but my mother’s in my palms.
I lift them up and look at them with pleasure –
I know my parents made me by my hands.
‘in’ - physical presence within her and her body / It is not just a look like it is more than that
The parallel grammar – shows that the speaker is a equal combination of both parents
Caesura – creates a clean break separating the parents (suggestion of divorce)
Made – creation/belonging to a family lineage
Iambic pentameter – structure and form like in DNA
Villanelle – first and third lines are repeated mostly
They may have been repelled to separate lands,
to separate hemispheres, may sleep with other lovers,
but in me they touch where fingers link to palms.
Repelled – implies a disliking
Hemispheres and lands – imply a sense of distance
Diacope of ‘to separate’ put more emphasis on the split
No romantic and geographic closeness
Asyndeton – makes the poems feel fragmented
Touch –Metaphorical touching of parents through the hands of the persona
The repeated lines merge the two split parents together in her hands or palms
The last line of this stanza answers the 1st line -> they are separated but her existence brings the two parents together
With nothing left of their togetherness but friends
who quarry for their image by a river,
at least I know their marriage by my hands.
Togetherness – Tentative friendship
Friends who quarry for their image by a river – a metaphor for the relationship
Quarrying –extracting stones and minerals from the ground
For their image – searching or digging for a reflection of their romance from many years ago
Persona can easily see their marriage in her genetics
At least in last stanza – their love’s proof is in the speaker and how she has been made by them / the inherited traits are not just a sense of belonging but also a window into the world as it once was
I shape a chapel where a steeple stands.
And when I turn it over,
my father’s by my fingers, my mother’s by my palms
Steeple – church / biblical alignment
Church – wedding day
Demure – quiet and humble this all puts importance onto their relationship/sanctity for her
Consonance and sibilance in /m/, /l/, and /p/ evoke the quiet reverence of the parents on the wedding day
Repetitive use of asyndeton and removing the conjunction but – this omission puts the two parts even closer together recreating them uniting as before / also mirrored on the physical closeness of her fingers which are the two parts
Last line of this stanza -> compare to first-line -> removal of “but” to turn into asyndeton /commission pulls the parts of the sentences closer / makes sense fore recreating the wedding day when they are united / but suggests separation
demure before a priest reciting psalms.
My body is their marriage register.
I re-enact their wedding with my hands.
Body – is their marriage
Reenacting the marriage – through her body
Huge change in the villanelle – the original was passive now it is active / she has actively understood her identity / “Know” to “re-enact” there is a change / acceptance of identity
This adds a new dimension / not only connected by inherited traits but also by the fact that she is what actively connects and brings them together
So take me with you, take up the skin’s demands
for mirroring in bodies of the future.
I’ll bequeath my fingers, if you bequeath your palms.
We know our parents make us by our hands.
You – direct address / inviting to have a child together
Skin’s demands – passing on the genetics
Mirroring – recalls quarrying / fleeting and ephemeral nature of romance
Asyndeton and anaphora – ‘take’ / omitting conjunction – sounds forceful and urgent
Villanelle – comes full circle here / transition from knowing herself to making her on family / passing down their palms just as their parents did / children reflect their parents but are not exact copies
Conditionally statement – if they agree to join together / mirroring parents / not exact copies however
I know my parents made me by my hands – important shift / we, us, our
