Poppies -> dramatic monologue

“Released a songbird from its cage”

• Symbolism

• Reflects her acknowledging and trying to come to terms with her son’s desire for freedom and independence

• Birds symbolise freedom

“A split second and you were away, intoxicated”

• Drunk on freedom and newfound independence

• Growing up too fast

“On reaching the top of the hill i traced the inscription on the war memorial”

• The climbing to the top of the hill is perhaps a metaphor for her struggle to deal with the grief of loosing her son and sending him to war

“All my words flattened, rolled and turned into felt”

• This indicates that the mother’s grief and fear has left her speachless

Themes

• Strength and bravery of war victims → poet celebrates the strength and bravery of those left behind in war - those who don’t risk their lives but still suffer

• Parents and children → Weir explores the difficulty parents face when allowing their children to become independent, Readers are still able to relate to this as they’re letting their children grow and become independent

• Loneliness and loss

Structure - dramatic monologue

• Aimed at the reader to receive sympathy

Structure - Free form

• Perhaps represents the way the mother’s thoughts and emotions are unable to be contained - she is at her braking point

Context

• response to the escalating conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq

• her audience was mostly mothers who had lost their sons in recent wars

• experience of pain and loss as her son left to war

Poems to compare to

• Remains → effects of conflict, memory, individuals experience

• Kamikaze → effects of conflict, memory, individuals experience

• War photographer → effects of conflict, memory, individuals experience