Mrs Mida Links

Question 1

Relationships

Answer 1

Mrs Midas
“I miss most, even now, his hands, his warm hands on my skin, his touch.”

Valentine
“Not a red rose or a satin heart”
“cling to your fingers, cling to your knife.”
“a wobbling photo of grief”

The Way My Mother Speaks
“I say her phrases to myself”
“Nothing is silent. Nothing is not silent”
“I am homesick, free”

Question 2

Isolation

Answer 2

Mrs Midas
“So he had to move out”
“He sat in the back”
“under the cover of dark”

War Photographer
“In his dark room he is finally alone”
“The only light is red and softly glows”
“he stares impassively”

Question 3

Separation

Answer 3

Mrs Midas
“I miss most, even now”
“That was the last straw”

Originally
“where we didn’t live anymore”
“I want our own country”

War Photographer
“they do not care”
“He has a job to do”
“The reader’s eyeballs prick with tears between the bath and the pre-lunch beers.”

Question 4

Love (loss/pain)

Answer 4

Mrs Midas
“I miss most, even now, his hands, his warm hands on my skin, his touch

Valentine
“a wobbling photo of grief”
“cling to your fingers, cling to your knife.”
“Lethal.”

Question 5

Change

Answer 5

Mrs Midas
“So he had to move out”

Originally
"where we didn't live any more"
"Where do you come from? strangers ask. Originally? And I hesitate."
"shedding its skin like a snake"
"All childhood is an emigration"

The Way My Mother Speaks
“I am homesick, free”
“I am happy and sad”
“Nothing is silent. Nothing is not silent”

Mrs Tilscher’s Class
“the inky tadpoles changed from commas into exclamation marks”
“Three frogs hopped in the playground”
“impatient to be grown”