Poems of the Decade Notes
Poem/Title Analysis Themes Language Structure Tone Form
Eat Me Aging/time • Opens with factual/direct, short sentences with subject, Chronological, follows Factual 10 x stanzas
Imperative, command, Objectification verb, object construction trajectory of the narrative ‘I ate, did what I 3 x lines
sexually provocative, Male view of women • ‘didn’t even taste it’, removed agency, loss of identity was told’
illustrative of consent, Power/control • Use of tricolons, sense of excess/classification, ‘big girls, Use of direct quotations Mournful Isometric
power dynamic of Foreignness soft girls, girls I can burrow inside’ between tone shift ‘only pleasure’
relationship Desire • Biblical allusion ‘like forbidden fruit’, female blame for Frustrated Dramatic
sin, sexual imagery, objectifies, exoticism Ends with the death of the ‘too fat’ monologue
• ‘craving a wave’, assonance reinforces frustration man, acts to reinforce. Triumphant
• ‘I rolled and he drowned/in my flesh’, enjambment ‘I left him’
reinforcing action, clear action vs consequence
• ‘there was nothing else left in the house to eat’, sinister
ambiguity, adopts tone of the male (threat)
Chainsaw vs Pampas Conflict • Personification of chainsaw, stereotypically masculine, Framed by time Methodical 8x stanzas
Sense of conflict, Power/control suggesting aggression ‘knocked back’ ‘all winter’, ‘left it a year’ ‘from there’, Varying lines
juxtaposition of man vs Man, vs nature • ‘gunned the trigger’, pun, violence is humourised ‘then’
nature Desire • ‘I let it flare’ PV demonstrates sense of power Descriptive of singular event Heterometric
Time • ‘sunning itself/stealing the show’ feminised, presented as Sadistic
arrogant, selfish, sibilance = sneer Cyclical, return of the chainsaw ‘bloody desire’
• ‘the fringe […] pipes and tubes’, juxtaposition of natural to its place and ‘felt the […]
and mechanical imagery, PV projection acknowledgement of presence gargle’
• ‘into the patch and […] in a match’, rhyming, cohesion of pampas grass
• ‘the seamless urge to persist’, futility of action, sadistic Frustrated
fulfilment from violence, inevitability of failure ‘to try to forget’
Material Memory/nostalgia • ‘a mum’s embarrassment of lace’ the physical associated Reflection on past Reminiscent 9x stanzas
Physical presence, lack of Generational differences with the intangible, emotional attachment to past ‘she’d have one, 2 x couplets
article = sense of Gender • ‘she always bought her own; I never did’ fundamental Illustrates transfer of parental always’
displacement, focus on Youth/growth differences between them highlighted role
what is tangible Parental responsibility • ‘his dodgy foot’, affectionate, idiosyncratic focus ‘I raised neglected-looking kids’ Frank
• ‘the Annual Talent Show’ capitalisation, sense of ‘if I’d commit to
officiality/foregrounds importance Ends with dialogue from being home’
• ‘Nostalgia only makes me old’ metaphorical and literal mother, sense of intimacy
• ‘their soft and hidden history’ aspirant consonance, Reflective
secrecy, delicacy in their association ‘she would say’
• ‘should I complain of the scratchy and disposable’
modern life seen as holding little value in comparison
, Poems of the Decade Notes
An Easy Passage Youth • Sense of intense focus ‘she must keep her mind on’ Begins in media res Neutral/factual 1x effusive stanza
Singular, ‘passage’ = sense Journeying • Use of blazon, identity through physicality, ‘tiny breasts’, ‘once’, ‘but first’
of liminality as Development/growth ‘toes and fingertips’ Follows the route of the girl Narrative
through/between, ‘easy’ = The future as unknown • Inevitability of acquiring knowledge through growth and Forgiving
sense of pride(?) Ambition action ‘she will reach’, ‘the more we grow’ Extension of concentration of ‘what can she
• innocence/purity of youth ‘seem lit, as if from within’ poem to others know of the way
• Distance of future in ambition: ‘classes/she plans to take’ ‘flush-faced secretary’ the world…’
• ‘Shimmering-oyster-painted toenails’ mythological
connotations, idea of mermaid, innocence and idealism
• ‘flash of armaments’ foregrounded, unusual link to
violence/conflict, potential for transformation in growth
The Deliverer Places • Colonialism through place names, India and Native Divided by location Factual No strict form
Title, identity defined by Objectification America ‘Our Lady, ‘Milwaukee’ ‘the sister here is
occupation (perhaps Cycles of life • Harsh past tense ‘found’, ‘covered’, ‘abandoned’ Follows discovery and adoption telling my mother’ Limited regularity
perceived as a masculine Gender • ‘the one’ lack of identity, objectified in stanza/lines
role), anticipation of • ‘they know about ceremony’, importance of conformity, Final section returns original Shift to another
recipient/object view of Americans as more civilised/empathetic setting PV with ‘feel for Final section, 2x 3-
• ‘the strangeness of her empty arms’ loss of function penis or no penis’ line stanza, 2x 2-
• ‘she’s passed from woman to woman’ commodification Internal cyclical structure with line stanza, 1 line,
• ‘outside village boundaries’ othering, removed from view repetition of process of women breaking down,
• ‘feel for penis or no penis’ binary decision of fate, lack of that ‘trudge home to lie down draw to closure
grammatical correctness suggests non-English speaker for their men again’
Please Hold Time • Direct, simple sentences create tension No strict structure Factual 1x stanza
‘please’, polite, instruction Appearance, vs reality • Limited range of vocabulary ‘she says […] and
towards subject, dynamic Power /control • Expression through punctuation Focus on repetition I’m talking’ Continuous,
of relationship, ‘hold’, Entrapment • Irony as the PV appears to be as robotic as the situation building tension
waiting, anticipation, used described Combining of ‘voices’ Angry
primarily during telephone • Lack of distinction of dialogue, fused in memory ‘fucking’
calls • ‘wonderful’, superlative, appears satirical Deviation from repetition
• Tricolon of possessive pronoun foregrounds Futile
• Use of present tense, direct, confrontational ‘the only way’
• Structural reversal of ‘my wife says, this is the future’ Internal cyclical structure
through repetition
• ‘he is giving me no options / in the guise of countless
alternatives’ sense of futility, appearance vs reality
• Three syllable profanity, direct, aggressive sound
• Detachment through ‘translator’, frustration as isolation
• Rhyming of ‘hold […] old […] cold […]’ gradual clarity
Poem/Title Analysis Themes Language Structure Tone Form
Eat Me Aging/time • Opens with factual/direct, short sentences with subject, Chronological, follows Factual 10 x stanzas
Imperative, command, Objectification verb, object construction trajectory of the narrative ‘I ate, did what I 3 x lines
sexually provocative, Male view of women • ‘didn’t even taste it’, removed agency, loss of identity was told’
illustrative of consent, Power/control • Use of tricolons, sense of excess/classification, ‘big girls, Use of direct quotations Mournful Isometric
power dynamic of Foreignness soft girls, girls I can burrow inside’ between tone shift ‘only pleasure’
relationship Desire • Biblical allusion ‘like forbidden fruit’, female blame for Frustrated Dramatic
sin, sexual imagery, objectifies, exoticism Ends with the death of the ‘too fat’ monologue
• ‘craving a wave’, assonance reinforces frustration man, acts to reinforce. Triumphant
• ‘I rolled and he drowned/in my flesh’, enjambment ‘I left him’
reinforcing action, clear action vs consequence
• ‘there was nothing else left in the house to eat’, sinister
ambiguity, adopts tone of the male (threat)
Chainsaw vs Pampas Conflict • Personification of chainsaw, stereotypically masculine, Framed by time Methodical 8x stanzas
Sense of conflict, Power/control suggesting aggression ‘knocked back’ ‘all winter’, ‘left it a year’ ‘from there’, Varying lines
juxtaposition of man vs Man, vs nature • ‘gunned the trigger’, pun, violence is humourised ‘then’
nature Desire • ‘I let it flare’ PV demonstrates sense of power Descriptive of singular event Heterometric
Time • ‘sunning itself/stealing the show’ feminised, presented as Sadistic
arrogant, selfish, sibilance = sneer Cyclical, return of the chainsaw ‘bloody desire’
• ‘the fringe […] pipes and tubes’, juxtaposition of natural to its place and ‘felt the […]
and mechanical imagery, PV projection acknowledgement of presence gargle’
• ‘into the patch and […] in a match’, rhyming, cohesion of pampas grass
• ‘the seamless urge to persist’, futility of action, sadistic Frustrated
fulfilment from violence, inevitability of failure ‘to try to forget’
Material Memory/nostalgia • ‘a mum’s embarrassment of lace’ the physical associated Reflection on past Reminiscent 9x stanzas
Physical presence, lack of Generational differences with the intangible, emotional attachment to past ‘she’d have one, 2 x couplets
article = sense of Gender • ‘she always bought her own; I never did’ fundamental Illustrates transfer of parental always’
displacement, focus on Youth/growth differences between them highlighted role
what is tangible Parental responsibility • ‘his dodgy foot’, affectionate, idiosyncratic focus ‘I raised neglected-looking kids’ Frank
• ‘the Annual Talent Show’ capitalisation, sense of ‘if I’d commit to
officiality/foregrounds importance Ends with dialogue from being home’
• ‘Nostalgia only makes me old’ metaphorical and literal mother, sense of intimacy
• ‘their soft and hidden history’ aspirant consonance, Reflective
secrecy, delicacy in their association ‘she would say’
• ‘should I complain of the scratchy and disposable’
modern life seen as holding little value in comparison
, Poems of the Decade Notes
An Easy Passage Youth • Sense of intense focus ‘she must keep her mind on’ Begins in media res Neutral/factual 1x effusive stanza
Singular, ‘passage’ = sense Journeying • Use of blazon, identity through physicality, ‘tiny breasts’, ‘once’, ‘but first’
of liminality as Development/growth ‘toes and fingertips’ Follows the route of the girl Narrative
through/between, ‘easy’ = The future as unknown • Inevitability of acquiring knowledge through growth and Forgiving
sense of pride(?) Ambition action ‘she will reach’, ‘the more we grow’ Extension of concentration of ‘what can she
• innocence/purity of youth ‘seem lit, as if from within’ poem to others know of the way
• Distance of future in ambition: ‘classes/she plans to take’ ‘flush-faced secretary’ the world…’
• ‘Shimmering-oyster-painted toenails’ mythological
connotations, idea of mermaid, innocence and idealism
• ‘flash of armaments’ foregrounded, unusual link to
violence/conflict, potential for transformation in growth
The Deliverer Places • Colonialism through place names, India and Native Divided by location Factual No strict form
Title, identity defined by Objectification America ‘Our Lady, ‘Milwaukee’ ‘the sister here is
occupation (perhaps Cycles of life • Harsh past tense ‘found’, ‘covered’, ‘abandoned’ Follows discovery and adoption telling my mother’ Limited regularity
perceived as a masculine Gender • ‘the one’ lack of identity, objectified in stanza/lines
role), anticipation of • ‘they know about ceremony’, importance of conformity, Final section returns original Shift to another
recipient/object view of Americans as more civilised/empathetic setting PV with ‘feel for Final section, 2x 3-
• ‘the strangeness of her empty arms’ loss of function penis or no penis’ line stanza, 2x 2-
• ‘she’s passed from woman to woman’ commodification Internal cyclical structure with line stanza, 1 line,
• ‘outside village boundaries’ othering, removed from view repetition of process of women breaking down,
• ‘feel for penis or no penis’ binary decision of fate, lack of that ‘trudge home to lie down draw to closure
grammatical correctness suggests non-English speaker for their men again’
Please Hold Time • Direct, simple sentences create tension No strict structure Factual 1x stanza
‘please’, polite, instruction Appearance, vs reality • Limited range of vocabulary ‘she says […] and
towards subject, dynamic Power /control • Expression through punctuation Focus on repetition I’m talking’ Continuous,
of relationship, ‘hold’, Entrapment • Irony as the PV appears to be as robotic as the situation building tension
waiting, anticipation, used described Combining of ‘voices’ Angry
primarily during telephone • Lack of distinction of dialogue, fused in memory ‘fucking’
calls • ‘wonderful’, superlative, appears satirical Deviation from repetition
• Tricolon of possessive pronoun foregrounds Futile
• Use of present tense, direct, confrontational ‘the only way’
• Structural reversal of ‘my wife says, this is the future’ Internal cyclical structure
through repetition
• ‘he is giving me no options / in the guise of countless
alternatives’ sense of futility, appearance vs reality
• Three syllable profanity, direct, aggressive sound
• Detachment through ‘translator’, frustration as isolation
• Rhyming of ‘hold […] old […] cold […]’ gradual clarity
