The way my mother speaks

Question 1

Stanza 1

Answer 1

I say her phrases to myself
in my head
or under the shallows of my breath,
restful shapes moving.
The day and ever. The day and ever.

Question 2

Stanza 2

Answer 2

The train this slow evening
goes down England
browsing for the right sky,
too blue swapped for a cool grey.
For miles I have been saying
What like is it.
The way I say things when I think.
Nothing is silent. Nothing is not silent.
What like is it.

Question 3

Stanza 3

Answer 3

Only tonight
I am happy and sad
like a child
who stood at the end of summer
and dipped a net
in a green, erotic pond. The day
and ever. The day and ever.
I am homesick, free, in love
with the way my mother speaks.

Question 4

Themes

Answer 4

The difficulty and pain of change
The transition from youth to adulthood.