“Poem for My Mother”

“Poem for My Mother” by Jennifer Davids

Poem for my mother

Jennifer Davids

That isn’t everything, you said

on the afternoon I brought a poem

to you hunched on the washtub

with your hands

the shriveled

burnt granadilla

Skin of your hands

covered by foam.

And my words

slid like a ball

of hard blue soap

into the tub

to be grabbed and used by you

to rub the clothes.

A poem isn’t all

there is to life, you said

with your blue ringed gaze

scanning the page

once looking over my shoulder

and back at the immediate

dirty water

and my words

being clenched

smaller and

smaller.

The poem “Poem for My Mother” was written by Jennifer Davids. Davids, born in 1947 in Cape Town, attended Harold Cressy High School and later trained as a teacher at Hewat Training College where she specialized in arts. She later also taught in Langa, a black township in Cape Town. Living in the Apartheid era of South-Africa, the effects and influences thereof can be seen in Davids’ poetry where she expresses political awareness. “Poem for My Mother” was published in 1974 in Searching for Words but it was written much earlier in Davids’ teenage years. This essay will analyse the poem and reveal the topic, the form and the themes of the poem.

The title of the poem indicates that it is a poem written for or dedicated to the daughters’ mother. This indicates that there is a certain love and sincerity that the daughter wants to show through an affectionate poem. In the first stanza the first two lines indicate that the mother shows disregard for poetry, “That isn’t everything” (line 1) when the daughter presents the poem to her mother. In lines three and four we can see that the mother is busy with household chores, she is busy washing the laundry by hand. The mother is described as being “hunched” on the washtub in line three which indicates that the mother is tired and has spent a great amount of time doing the laundry. From line four to line eight there is a figurative description of the mothers’ hands. This metaphor that compares the mothers’ hands to a “shrivelled burnt granadilla skin” (lines 5-6) describes the age and harsh labour intensive life of the mother. In the last line of the stanza, line eight, it says “covered by foam”. This also indicates why the mothers’ hands are all shrivelled up.

In the second stanza the focus is returned to the poem the daughter brought her mother. Here in lines 9-11, the words of the poem are compared to a sliding ball of hard blue soap. This figurative creation indicates that the mother does not understand or grasp the words and the feelings that are expressed in the poem. It can be seen as sliding through her hands and not grasped. Lines 13-14 shows some despair the daughter is feeling because the poem is not read and appreciated by the mother, but rather “grabbed and used” (line 13).

In stanza one and two it is made clear that the mother does not understand and grasp the idea of poetry, she does not understand and grasp the words and emotions that are expressed through the daughters’ poem. It can only be speculated that the mother has grown up in a very different and restricted environment. The mother sees labour and tasks as more of importance than the expression of feelings and emotions through creative writing. The mother has no regard for poetry. The difference between the mother and daughter are further emphasized through the contras “your hands” in line four and “my words” in line nine. This contra suggests that there is a gap and different point of views between the mother and daughter. The mother can be seen as a more practical person, where the daughter is more of an intellectual.

In the third stanza the mothers’ blunt rejection of the poem is again repeated “A poem isn’t all there is to life” (lines 15-16). This shows how offended and affected the daughter is by the rejection of the poem. Line 17 again refers to the mothers’ hard life. “your blue ringed gaze”. This indicates that the mother has rings under her eyes which are from tiredness or that it is blue from being physically abused. This line holds some irony because of the colour of the soap and the colour of the mothers’ gaze which is both blue. In lines 18-19 there is a description of how the mother is reading the poem. She is described as “scanning” (line 18) and “looking over my shoulder” (line 19). This indicates that the mother simply glances at the poem and is not really paying attention. She also looks over the shoulder and is not standing beside her daughter to show interest or intimacy. Lines 20-21 show that the mother immediately turns her focus to the dirty water. The word “immediate” (line 20) indicates the mothers’ urgency to finish the laundry. This act of the mother is a hurtful one as could be seen in the reaction of the daughter in the last stanza.

The last stanza, lines 22-25, conveys the daughters’ sadness and hurt at seeing the poem to be disregarded. “and my words being clenched smaller and smaller” (lines 22-25) reveals the disappointment, deflation and dismay of the daughter.

The poem describes a very tender moment between a mother and her daughter. The fact that the daughter had written a poem for her mother indicates that they have a very close relationship, or that this is an attempt to mend the lack of communication in their relationship. It can be seen that they are a poor working class household, “Blue ringed eyes” (line 17), doing laundry by hand and also hands that are worn by the work in lines three to eight. The poem is offered to the mother with great enthusiasm, excitement and appreciation. The speaker wants the mother to discontinue the chores and rather read and appreciate the poem written for her. Unfortunately the mother does not have the time or an understanding for poetry. The mother is dismissive, too busy and not impressed by the poem. Poetry is seen by the mother as a luxury and she would rather focus on the practicalities of life. The tone of the poem is of disappointment and deflation. The theme links the mother-daughter relationship with the lack of communication.

In the poem there are irregular line lengths, no punctuation and also run-on lines. The poem has a conversational tone to it because the speaker is actually addressing the mother. There are several metaphors that are used through the poem and also an instance of irony. The form of the last stanza compliments the meaning and adds to the effect; it is a small and short stanza which indicates the daughters’ words as losing their meaning and being squeezed into nothingness.

The poem describes a moment that should have been a very loving and tender one between a mother and her daughter. Unfortunately the moment is ruined because of social class factors. This poem was written during apartheid and in a way the effects thereof can be seen in this poem. A typical poor and working class family is portrayed that enjoys no simple luxuries like a washing machine and which also indicates the issue of illiteracy, where the child has surpassed the parent in the form of education and culture and can be regarded as an intellectual.