'The woman speaks to the man who has employed her son'
Beryl Clarke, Contributor

"It is easier to keep up than to catch up."
-unknown

This is a sentiment that I hope you will remember as you prepare for external exams this year. In this week's lesson we are going discuss the poem 'The Woman Speaks to the Man who has Employed her Son', written by Lorna Goodison. Goodison is a Jamaican who has written several books of poetry and her focus is rooted in her homeland. I would like you to find out all you can about this remarkable writer.

The subject matter of this poem is very topical, so much so that one who is meeting it for the first time could be forgiven for thinking that it was written only last week. I am confident that your study group will have many fruitful discussions on this one. Please do me the favour of reading it to or with your parents or guardians or older relatives. Why, you may ask? My intention is for you to find out how the writer's words make them feel. Try to focus on their reactions and then do what you can to find out from them why they have such reactions. As you read this poem, too, think of how you feel and identify why you do so, for in this way you will be analyzing Goodison's craft.

The Woman Speaks to the Man who has Employed her Son

Her son was first made known to her
as a sense of unease, a need to cry
for little reasons and a metallic tide
rising in her mouth each morning.
Such signs made her know
That she was not alone in her body.
She carried him full term
tight up under her heart.

She carried him like the poor
carry hope, hope you get a break
or a visa, hope one child go through
and remember you. He had no father.
The man she made him with had more
like him, he was fair-minded
he treated all his children
with equal and unbiased indifference.

She raise him twice, once as mother
Then as father, set no ceiling
On what he could be doctor,
earth healer, pilot take wings.
But now he tells her he is working
for you, that you value him so much
you give him one whole submachine
gun for him alone.

He says you are like a father to him
she is wondering what kind of father
would give a son hot and exploding
death, when he asks him for bread.
She went downtown and bought three
and one-third yards of black cloth
and a deep crowned and veiled hat
for the day he draw his bloody salary.

She has no power over you and this
at the level of earth, what she has
are prayers and a mother's tears
and at knee city she uses them.
She says psalms for him
she reads psalms for you
she weeps for his soul
her eyewater covers you.

She is throwing a partner
with Judas Iscariot's mother
the thief on the left-hand side
of the cross, his mother
is the banker, her draw though
is first and last for she still
throwing two hands as mother and
father.
She is prepared, she is done.
Absalom.

The basic story presented here is one that is known to all Jamaicans. A woman gets pregnant for a womanizer and in the early stages suffers from morning sickness. When her son is born, she has great dreams for him and as a single parent tries her best with and for him. Unfortunately, he begins to work for someone who gives him a gun. The mother clearly sees the outcome of her son's 'profession' and accepts his inevitable end.

But is this all? What is it that makes this poem so special? Let's start at the beginning again. We are introduced to the mother, not as a single entity but as a woman who is with child. We learn that it is changes in her body that have caused her to realise her condition. She starts to feel uncomfortable, have morning sickness and experience mood swings. Notice how our speaker tells us about the conclusion she comes to: 'that she was not alone in her body' and of her statement of acceptance in:

"She carried him full term
tight up under heart"

Do you recognise the emotional bond that these words reveal? Up to this point we do not know whether she has a husband who is overjoyed at this development or not, but we know that she has formed a bond with her unborn child. Are you wondering why the speaker says that 'she carried him full term'?

Is this because he/she wants us to understand that the idea of an abortion never entered the mother's mind, or to let us know that she had a healthy pregnancy? Contemplation time!

We still have some persons who believe that children are 'old-age pension'. Do you know what I mean? If you don't, inquire of an older person, then ask yourself whether this could have been a consideration of the mother. Is there anything in the poem that could possibly lead one to such a conclusion? We are told that much hope rested on the child.

It is after this that we are introduced to another feature of Jamaican social life. The man with whom she made him is not seen as a father but as a promiscuous sperm donor, who does not take care of any of his children. There is a literary device used in this verse. I hope that you recognise it and the purpose that it serves. Do make a note of it right there in the text!

The third stanza deals with the fact that she had to be both mother and father to her son, a situation that is all too familiar to us as Jamaicans. What are these words telling us? That she took full responsibility for his upbringing, not shirking anything with the excuse that 'him no have no fada'. She set his horizons high and wide, thinking that he could achieve any wonderful goal. Consider the professional choices she has in mind for her fatherless boy! In her estimation, he could have been a doctor - thereby caring for others even as he became financially independent, or an environmentalist - caring for the earth and being financially well off, or he could have been a pilot. You need to reflect on the significance of this last choice. We will return to it later. Suddenly, there is an unexpected change in the events and the tone of the poem. We will, therefore, take a break and pick up at this point in next week's 'class'.

Make sure to read this poem several times. If there is any word or expression with which you are not familiar, please get clarification. Take care and God bless!

Beryl Clarke is an independent contributor. Send questions and comments to kerry-ann.hepburn@gleanerjm.com