Summary The Need to Recall the Hourney by Sujata Bhatt - Poem Analysis
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Poetry
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CIE
In this resource, you’ll find an analysis of ‘The need to Recall the Journey’ by Sujata Bhatt.
It’s targeted specifically toward those studying the Cambridge A-Level (CAIE / CIE) syllabus, but it’s suitable for anyone studying the poet at any level. Bhatt’s poems are beautiful and co...
The Need to Recall the Journey
Sujata Bhatt
For Regina Munzel
Now when she cries
for milk,
now as she drinks
I drift back
to the moments when she was
almost out
still part of me
but already I could reach down
and touch her hair.
I want to return
to her moment of birth.
It was too quick.
I want it to go on -
When the pain was suddenly
defined by her head,
when she was about to slide out
safely
all by herself - I felt my heart
go half-way out with her…
like seeing a beloved one off
to a harbour, to a ship
destined to go
to a far away place
you’ve never been to…
(Full poem unable to be reproduced due to the copyright)
, VOCABULARY
Scalping - taking the scalp of an enemy as a trophy in battle, also the word for
skimming material off the top of something
Cacti - the plural of ‘cactus’, a sharp spiky desert plant
Cassette - a tape that was used in the past to record and play music
Marrow - the substance which fills the centre of bones
STORY/SUMMARY
Now, when she cries for milk / now, as she drinks and I start thinking back to the
moments where she was almost born and partly out / still part of me / but I could
already reach down and touch her hair. / I want to return to this moment - her moment
of birth. It was too quick / I want it to continue longer - / when the pain was suddenly
defined by her head when she was about to slide out of my womb safely - all by
herself - I felt my heart exit half way with her - it was like seeing someone that you
love to leave the country by a ship in the harbour - when they were destined to go to a
new place that you’ve never been to yourself… / but I could touch her hair - it was thick,
fuzzy and hot. It reminded me of sticky feathers that clung wet to the runny white
liquid of eggs… / But this is a small person who already has her own independent
thoughts and feelings - she has a favourite sleeping position. / Weeks pass and the
bleeding of my womb stops. Months pass - what I thought could never heal actually
does heal. /And still there is a need for me to remember the journey, to retell the story
of what happened. The urge to open up the details of what happened until our faces
glow again. / When we delve into memory, what exactly is it that we are trying to
understand? / How we walked for hours while she kneaded herself out of my womb;
how we walked up and down the small room - circling the large bed. / No one can
explain how this feels. No one could have prepared me for this. The sound of ripping
silk, tearing skin that comes from within me. / Machines around us are recording
everything that people might want to know. / After the birth, I thought how lucky I was
to have been as alert as any other animal that was there, struggling to give birth in a
cave, / or behind a grove of trees, / or in an open field / walking at first, then straining to
push the baby out, then lying down - and doing all of this without drugs or
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