POEMS ANALYSIS

POEM FOR MOTHERS

In the poem "Poem For Mothers" by Cheryl Albury, a rhyme scheme cannot be
identified as there are not two or more words that rhyme. However, that means that
this poem can be identified as a free verse, because there is no rhyming pattern in
place. This poem also contains 24 lines and 2 stanzas.

A metaphor can be seen in the first stanza, which is "surrogate dads" (Line 4). The
author's use of the word "surrogate" refers to the fathers being absent in their
child(ren)'s life, much like a surrogate who only donates his sperm to be planted into
a woman. He would not claim the child as his own since as stated, he only donates
his sperm for a woman to bear a child.

The second stanza contains hyperbole, which is "a sister kills or self-destructs' ' (Line
22). This can be called hyperbole because taking a look at the first stanza, we can
see that the mother has to do everything on her own, without the help of the child's
father, in this case the "surrogate dads' '. The author uses this device to emphasize
the role of single mothers that after carrying these responsibilities and burden on her
back for so long, she is tired and has a meltdown as a result of it, in this case, the
"kills or self-destructs". This line exaggerates the meltdown the mothers have after
doing so much without any help at all.

Overall, the moral of the poem is women are not to be treated like someone who
only pleases men sexually.

SUPERWIFE

In the poem "Superwife" by Cheryl Albury, a refrain can be seen, which is "Did you
see her?". This line repeats 3 times in the poem, twice in the first stanza, and once in
the second stanza. This poem consists of 18 lines, 6 of which form a sestet.

Lines 2 and 3 "that damned mouthing robot" is a metaphor, because it compares the
wife to a "damned mouthing robot" without using like or as. Lines 8 and 9 "Damned
programmed idiot in a dolly's body" is another metaphor. Similarly to lines 2 and 3,
the comparison of the wife to an idiot in a dolly's body does not utilize like or as,
making it a metaphor.

If you compare this to the first poem, Poem For Mothers, you can see that there are
some overlapping ideas. Both being written by the same author, Cheryl Albury, there
is negative and unfair treatment of women. They are seen as "slaves" who are
expected to please men sexually, carry the responsibilities of raising the child and
also carry the responsibility of housekeeping.

"Strapped and carted her away" is likely an euphemism. It refers to the woman, in
this case, the superwife, running away. She cannot take on that role anymore, and
also cannot put up with the man who sees her as a slave and forgets that at the end
of the day, she too, is also a human being.

SUN IN MY SKIN

In this poem, use of personification twice is identified in stanzas 1 and 2. In the first
stanza, the use of personification is seen in line 6 - "the food don't agree with me".
This signifies that the author does not take a liking to the food since it is not of his
culture, which he is Bahamian. Also, line 4 "Cutlery confuses me" suggests that the
author is not familiar with some of the utensils provided to eat the food with.

In the second stanza, there is also personification. That is line 8 - "The cowbell
dances". This refers to the cowbell's motion when a person shakes it to produce the
noise it makes for music, which can be compared to the action of dancing.

The message of this poem is to love and embrace your culture and heritage more,
so that people know that you are different, and also remind people that the image
society sets for you is far from reality.