tissue

“paper that lets the light shine through”

• links to themes: HUMAN POWER AND CORRUPTION

• Idea of "light" links to the religious imagery of God being perceived as a beacon of light and hope

• Referring to human skin as "paper" links to how easy human tissue ages and dies, both a commentary on the futility of life and also the self-imposed social bounds of modern society

  • The idea of skin aging and 'decaying' also links to the corruption of humanity as we age, more aware and open to the manipulations of earth and other communities

“maps too”

Extended metaphor to demonstrate the breadth and variety of humanity

“roads, railtracks, mountainfolds”

• links to themes: HUMAN POWER AND CORRUPTION, POWER OF NATURE

• Monosyllabic and concise sentences create a blunt tone that permeates throughout the wider poem

  • It is blatant that Dharker is frustrated with the separation and marginalisation of human communities from each other, yet her blunt tone also hints how she is resigned to the fact of this concept existence

• Asyndeton

  • Dharker lists both artificial and natural borders, enhancing the feeling of total separation

• Alliteration of harsh consonants symbolises the poet's disdain towards the borders

“what was paid by credit card might fly our lives like paper kites”

• links to themes: HUMAN POWER AND CORRUPTION

• Metaphor criticises the significance humanity places on materialistic goods

“let the daylight break through capitals and monoliths”

• links to themes: POWER OF NATURE

• Metaphor illustrates the overwhelming power of nature, with Dharker highlighting how humanity can never fully wrest control of the earth from nature

“living tissue”

• links to themes: HUMAN POWER AND CORRUPTION

• This quotation is a significant turning point in the poem, where Dharker reveals her allegories about paper, maps and literature pertain to the complex yet paradoxically simple nature of humanity

structure

• poem takes an allegorical form

  • endeavours to entice readers to realise the futility of materialistic hoarding and artificial borders

• entire poem is written in quatrains

  • aims to portray the restrictive power of humanity

• Dharker explains that humanity records on paper what they find truly important

  • this poem is written on paper, establishing its significance

• fixed stanza length

  • regularity of this is undermined by the use of free verse and enjambment

AO3

• written in 2006

• Dharker was born in Pakistan but lived in Glasgow

  • she describes herself as: “Scottish, Pakistani, Muslim, Calvinist”

  • most of her poetry centres on the idea of identity, caused by her conflicting identities

• tissue is part of a poetry collection called: ‘The Terrorist At My Table’

  • this poetry explores themes of global politics, terrorism, extremism, religion and fundamentalism (abuse of power)