Surface stories Flashcards
Eat Me
an audacious dramatic monologue which examines the twisted and unhealthy dynamic between the female speaker and her male partner. the speaker is fed incessantly because her partner likes ‘big girls’ until, when she hits 39 stone, she rolls over on top of him and suffocates him. with its echoes of a grisly fairytale, this gleefully macabre poem is, at its core, an exploration of power.
The Deliverer
a short, stark and spare poem that lays bare with frightening clarity the plight of women in India who are pressured to produce male children, in addition to the yearning of an abandoned and fostered individual finding her roots. More broadly, the poem seems to draw attention to the cyclical/ generational suffering that cultural and social demands can create.
Out of the Bag
a long and complex poem sequence beginning with the speaker recalling childhood visits of Doctor Kerlin to attend the births of his siblings. As a child, the speaker believed the babies were miraculously brought out of the doctor’s bag. the second poem in the sequence is told from the present perspective, where an older speaker is visiting an Ancient Greek ruin at Epidaurus. he recalls taking part in a Catholic procession at age 17 before hallucinating Doctor Kerlin. in the third poem, the speaker sends ‘Bits of the grass’ from the site at Epidaurus to his sick friends at home. the final poem returns to the childhood memory, where the speaker’s mother asks the young speaker what he thinks of the ‘new wee baby’.
From the journal of a disappointed Man
focal concern of this poem is the contrast between the speaker’s introspection and the physical labour of the workmen. the speaker encounters the workmen trying to drive a pile into a pier. he claims that the men have encountered a problem that they do not know how to fix, and they stare silently at the works before walking away. the speaker is left alone with the pile, which is suspended in the air.
Chainsaw Versus the Pampas Grass
the chainsaw, a human invention and symbol of power and masculinity, battles with the natural world. the poem begins by describing in detail how the chainsaw is prepared before the speaker turns it on and it comes powerfully to life. the pampas gras sis destroyed with ease and the speaker sets fire to what remains. soon, however, the pampas grass grows back and the chainsaw is left seething on its hook.
History
in the days after the terrorist attacks on the 11th of September 2001, the speaker is on a beach with his wife and his son. above them, ‘war planes’ fly above them and the poet cannot supress his ‘dread / of what may come’. his son is rock-pooling, looking for interesting shells and fish, and they also fly a kite. the speaker reflects on the best way to live in the world and ‘do no harm’, concluding tentatively that we should be aware of the ever-changing environment around us, paying attention to the things which cannot be saved.
The Gun
Effects
Look We Have Coming to Dover!
A Minor Role
Material
The Lammas Hireling
The Furthest Distances I’ve Travelled
On Her Blindness
An Easy Passage
