a snapshot
of me and the girl --
between us
handsome as ever
is my only son
Eucalypt, 2, 2007
Kirsty Karkow
Commentary: ... A tanka written by Kirsty Karkow appeals to me for its simplicity of words, yet covert in suggestion. An innocent snap-shot at first glance, as a proud mother holds out a photo to us and points out her son.
When layers are peeled away questions arise. Why does the mother refer to her son’s, assumed friend, as the girl leaving her nameless?
And then the following lines :
between us
handsome as ever
is my only son
The phrase ‘handsome as ever’; does this insinuate the girl is not the perfect one?
The son centred between them as in a tug of war hints at a level of jealousy and that word ‘only’ implies to me she is not giving him up easily.
A difficult emotion to portray, presented in the visual medium of a photograph, which disguises hidden complexities . Karkow does it very well... excerpted from the Bowerbird Tanka Group Meeting Report, written by M L Grace
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