quotes for each poem

Question 1

the way my mother speaks

Answer 1

• “I say her phrases to myself/ in my head”
• “restful shapes moving”
• “the day and ever. the day and ever”
• “the train this slow evening”
• “too blue swapped for cool grey”
• “what like is it”
• “i am happy and sad”
• “like a child / who stood at the end of summer”
• “green, erotic pond”
• “the day and ever”
• “homesick, free”
• “in love with the way my mother speaks”

Question 2

mrs midas

Answer 2

"poured a glass of wine" 
"kitchen filled with the smell of itself"
"visibility poor" 
"dark"
"twig in his hand was gold" 
"pear... like a lightbulb"
"fairy lights"
"he drew the blinds"
"strange, wild, vain"
"spitting out the teeth of the rich"
"shaking hand"
"glass, goblet, golden chalice"
"i finished the wine" 
"the toilet i didnt mind"
"i couldnt believe my ears"
"at least, i said, youll be able to give up smoking for good"

Question 3

valetine

Answer 3

"not a red rose or a satin heart"
"an onion"
"it is a moon wrapped in brown paper"
"it promises light"
"careful undressing of love"
"blind you with tears/like a lover"
"wobbling photo of grief"
"not a cute card or a kissogram"
"fierce kiss"
"possessive and faithful"
"for as long as we are"
"platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring"
"cling to your fingers"

Question 4

originally

Answer 4

"fell through the fields"
"cried...bawling"
"home, home"
"holding its paw"
"blind toy"
"your accent wrong"
"which seem familiar"
"unimagined"
"big boys"
"eating worms"
"stirred like a loose tooth"
"my tongue shedding its skin like a snake"
"you forget... or change"
"and i hesitate."
"

Question 5

war photographer

Answer 5

"spools of suffering set out in ordered rows"
"dark room" "church"
"all flesh is grass"
"rural england"
"ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel"
"fields which dont explode beneath the feet"
"hands, which did not tremble then"
"twist"
"half-formed ghost"
"cries/ of this mans wife"
"blood stained"
"prick with tears"
"between the bath and prelunch beers"
"they do not care"

Question 6

in mrs tilschers class

Answer 6

"you could travel up the blue nile with your finger"
"chanted"
"the laugh of a bell"
"the was better than home"
"classroom glowed like a sweetshop"
"sugar paper. coloured shapes"
"scent of a pencil slowly, carefully shaved"
"commas into exclamation marks"
"jumping and croaking away from the lunch queue"
"a rough boy told you how you were born"
"you kicked him"
"air tasted of electricity"
"feverish"
"always untidy, hot/fractious"
"heavy, sexy sky"
"thunderstorm"