My daughter is coming!

[Spotty]

My daughter is coming!
I have bought her a bed
and a chair
a mirror, a lamp
and a desk.
Her room is all ready
except that the curtains
are torn.
Do I have the time to buy shoji panels
for the window?
I do not.

First I must WRITE A SPEECH
see the doctor about my tonsils
wich are dying ahead of schedule
se the barber and do a wash
cross the country
cross Brooklyn and Manhattan
MAKE A SPEECH
WRITE A POEM
liberate my daughter
from her father and Washington D.C.
recross the country
and present her to her room.

My daughter is coming!
Will she like her bed,
her chair, her mirror
desk and lamp

Or will she see only
the torn curtains?

Alice Walker

(Antwort von mir: I'm at my mother's)

[twinklingstar]

this is beautiful! I love the nostalgic atmophere created by a loving mother's worries... well, maybe it's not really "loving" (though which mother is not) but hasty. Picking up her daughter in between appointments make it seem nothing more but a mere "check!" on a businesswoman's to-do-list.
And all those worries about her career and her stress definitely diminish the anticipation. On second thought, I wouldn't really call her a "loving mother", but
egocentric, maybe materialistic and - worst of all - way too busy.
Egocentric, because she obviously thinks that only she deserves raising her daughter though her dad might have done a terrific job. Maybe this is new to her. All the time she was able to fully concentrate on herself (her career) and now she has to learn to share her time. (make time for love)
I think AW did a wonderful job describing this weird situation. Love it!

How do you connect to this poem?

have a nice day
rina

p.s. I went back to alter my opinion. This poem is still beautiful but it creates another atmosphere now... on second thought

p.p.s. Have you read "the color purple"?

[Geändert durch twinklingstar am 17-01-2002 um 23:20]

[Spotty]

Almost exactly this were the results of the discussion about this poem in the english lessons. It is printed down in our book, and I have written an answer on it, what I already wrote.

I also think it is a nice poem, pretty modern topic.

cu,

Spotty

ps. cause I read the poem during the english lessons, I don't know the whole book.

pps. my native language is german, don't expect too much of grammar and vocabulary...