Poem 1 - My Mother at Sixty-six
Author: Kamala Das; a poem from the Flamingo…
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Author: Kamala Das; a poem from the Flamingo…
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poem by Bob Perks proper attribution for excerpt is currently unknown.
AI Generated Images. Prompt: a mother and daughter in their last moments together at the airport as the daughter's departure had been announced. Standing near the security gate, they hugged
I overheard a mother and daughter in their last moments together at the airport as the daughter's departure had been announced. Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the mother said: "I love you and I wish you enough." The daughter replied, "Mom, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Mom." They kissed and the daughter left. The mother walked over to the window where I sat.
Standing there, I could see she wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on her privacy but she welcomed me in by asking, "Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?" "Yes, I have," I replied. "Forgive me for asking but why is this a forever good-bye?" "I am old and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is the next trip back will be for my funeral," she said. When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, "I wish you enough." May I ask what that means?"
AI Generated Images. Prompt: An old mother in an airport, talking to a person, pausing for a moment and looking up as if trying to remember a poem in detail and she smiled even more.
She began to smile. "That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone." She paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail and she smiled even more. "When we said 'I wish you enough' we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them".
Then turning toward me, she shared the following, reciting it from memory -
"I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright. I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more. I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive. I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger. I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting. I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess. I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye."
She then began to cry and walked away.
They say it takes a minute to find a special person. An hour to appreciate them. A day to love them. And an entire life to forget them.
When we grow older, we tend to not realise the fact that our parents are growing older too. The signs are subtle, they start complaining of back pain, eyesight issues and a lot more. We originally fail to realise that they are getting older. The women of the household still have to spruce up and be faster. They may not show to us that they are getting older.
But then, suddenly, the realisation would suddenly hit us - they're growing old. And if they're growing old… well you'd know what would happen.
The parents themselves were children to at one point in time. They experienced the same things with their own parents. While taking care of us, they have to behave as our parents. However, only when they visit their parents would they experience the nostalgic memories that they'd experienced as children. They'd love to turn back time to the days when the had no responsibility.
AI generated imagery. Prompt: Digital Art: The parents themselves were children to at one point in time. They experienced the same things with their own parents. While taking care of us, they have to behave as our parents. However, only when they visit their parents would they experience the nostalgic memories that they'd experienced as children. They'd love to turn back time to the days when the had no responsibility.
This is a feeling that we can't exactly relate with our grandparents. For us, our grandparents are a safe haven where we are pampered.
Death and Life just happens. No one knows what'll come next. No one controls the future. Thus, it's a common scene in the Airports for parents to think that they might not see their daughters and sons again.
There is no assurance that we'd meet anyone that we had met, once again in this life time. For example, we would have seen our school friends once or twice, but after they leave us, there is no guarantee that we'll ever see them again.
We never know where our roads lead us. Moreover, it is odd and painful to say goodbye to older people.
The closer the relation, the more painful it is to say goodbye.
So, as a sign of respect, don’t look at parents from the eyes of 3rd STD or 4th STD student. The older we get, the more responsible we should become.
The title “My Mother at 66”, is a plain reference to the fact that the “mother” of the author is getting older. The age mentioned in the poem - 66 - actually is just a reference to the old age of the mother.
Kamala Das, the author, had come back to her mother’s town for the holidays. However, she had to go back to her home after some time. (She might’ve had to take care of her family, her job etc)
While on the way to the airport with her mother, she noticed that her mother had slept off. The mother’s head was lolled back, mouth gaped, and maybe she had seen her mother’s skin becoming pale and wrinkled (or ashen-faced like a corpse). This immediately set off a small alarm in her head, and she realised that her mother was not the same person that she’d known. Her mother had become old.
She didn’t want to accept the fact that her mother had become old. (obviously because of the fact that she might lose her). So she looks outside the window of the car. She sees the children playing outside their houses and the young trees (this line is a bit symbolic and significant - this portrays the vast difference between the scene inside the car and the scene outside it - Death and Life - Antithesis). She immediately pushed the thought to the back of her mind.
At the airport, while seeing the mother, she again had the same thought while she was saying her goodbye… that her mother is old. Suddenly, the realisation hits her - this might be the last time she might she her again. She doesn’t wish to show her true feelings to her mother, because she doesn’t want the mother to feel sadness, remorse or grief.
Thus, she smiles at her mother and says “See you soon, Amma.”, to instil the hope that her mother would live… (Life is all about hope, man.)
And then, once she’d have returned to her home, the thought would take a back stage in the mind of the author.
The idea of death and life, love and longing.
The simple truth that we would come across situations where we would have to take bitter decisions in life that we’d know that we would regret. But those bitter decisions are the ones that make us stronger.
Life goes on, and it waits for no one. We have to live our life and get on with it; switching from one task to the next.
AI generated imagery. Prompt: The simple truth that we would come across situations where we would have to take bitter decisions in life that we’d know that we would regret. But those bitter decisions are the ones that make us stronger.
The author, Kamala Das, is a down-to-earth poet who focuses on the mundane everyday things that an average human can relate to.
Simile: Her face ashen like that of a corpse; pale as a late winter's moon; as old as she looked
Imagery and Symbolism: Tress sprinting, the merry children spilling and winter's moon.
Personification: Young Trees sprinting
Repetition: smile and smile and smile
Rhyming Scheme: The entire poem is written as a simple sentence that starts from the mother's home to the airport security check.
Parents form the epicentre of a child's life and the internal bonding between both is everlasting. To see a parent dwindling away is most painful and unacceptable. So the poet moves on in life and is still hopeful of seeing her mother again. The basic theme is separation of a loved one and how one prepares to accept it in the course of time.
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written and claimed by in the month of March.