My mother's kitchen

context

• forcibly displaced for most of her childhood but was granted refugee status in england in 1993

• she aims to be a channel for the kurdish people to the english speaking world

structure

• no regular rhyming scheme only in the last two lines - shows unpredicatblitity of living life as a refugee there lives are berefit of routine and stability

• 3 different stanza lengths - this could reflect the unsettled nature of her mother’s life as she has been constantly made to move from place to place. This arrangement goes against the conformity of traditional poetry which usually has a strict structure and so could represent the break and disconnection from her homeland that Hardi’s mother feels. Therefore the narrator is highlighting the emotional as well as physical disruption which occurs in an immigrant’s life

• use of full stops - finality + mother’s resillience as she’s had a lot of disruptions in her life

‘‘ I know i will never inherit my mother’s trees’’/ ‘‘ i will inherit my mother’s kitchen’’

• profound sense of loss and displacement, the declarative tone of ‘i know’ suugests a tone of certainty and resignation showing how the speaker is aware of the unbridgeable distance between her and her mother’s homeland

• the trees act as a metaphor for deep rooted heritage and cultural continuity

• trees are fixed in the land symbolising permanence and an organic connection to one’s origins

• the speaker’s realisation that she can’t inherit them suggest that some aspects of her mother’s identity are lost through migration

• however the earlier line of inheriting her mother’s kitchen suggests a continuation of cultural traditions rather than a complete loss eg. some things can be preserved eg. through food. She can still preserve her identity through traditions that last over generations

• some aspects of heritage like land and nature are lost in migrations but other aspects such as traditions can be adapted and passed down

• shift in certainty as the speaker realises a deeper cultural frgamentation

‘‘ it is her ninth time’’

• cats have nine lives, this is her last life/last time moving. Shows cycle of displacement

• lack of emotional language presents her experience in a matter of faxct way which makes her strength even more admirable

• overall there are 9 full stops in the poem which could symbolise all the 9 times hardi’s mother has moved

• element of finality as this is her last time moving and as Hardi is going to inherit her mother’s kitchen perhaps her life is coming to an end

‘‘ only for her vine in the front garden’’

• the use of ‘‘only’’ creates a sense of sole devotion, suggesting that amidst displacement or change, the mother’s attachment to her vines and therefore her heritage remains unwavering

• by nurturing this plant she preserves a piece of her homeland, demonstrates how identity and belonging aren’t confined to geographical locations

• unlike a back garden which is private, the front garden is visible to others suggesting a public display of identity, the fact that the plant is in the foreground rather than hidden away implies pride pride in one’s origins challenging the notion of feeling aleinated in a foreign land

• the vine also symbolises the growth of the mum over the years

‘‘ her plates an ugly collection of various sets’’

• ‘‘various plates’’ representative of the numerous journeys to numerous places the speaker and the mum have endured

• like the mismatched plates they have also struggled to put down roots and are affiliated to many locations.

• the word ‘ugly’ denotes a disliking which alludes to the fact that the speaker and mother haven’t enjoyed her haphazard experiences

poem to compare to relationships

Kumukanda - both poems focus on how family and relationships shape your life

poems to compare to new beginnings

Island man or the emigree