In the next line Armitage writes “reporting metres, centimetres back to base,” further reinforcing the importance of his mother. The line shows how despite a growing independence he always goes back to his mother, informing and updating her as his life goes on. The word “base” is also analogous to an army base, giving directions to soldiers. He implies that his mother is constantly there, giving directions to his own life.
In the final line of the stanza, Armitage writes “Anchor. Kite.” This could refer to both his mother and himself. By referring to his mother as an anchor, he suggests that his mother has always been a stable point in his life, reinforcing her importance. However, he hints that she could be possibly holding him back, like an anchor does to a ship. This is further backed up by the use of “Kite.” By referring the kite to Armitage, it implies that he is ready to become fully independent and ‘fly free,’ but his mother is holding him back, perhaps suggesting his mother isn’t as important as he always thought.
The next stanza begins with “I space-walk through the empty bedrooms.” The empty bedroom could be referring to his own, which becomes empty when he leaves his home, to move out, when he is older, or it could represent his new house, which he has moved in to. He implies that this is a strange, new and scary experience, by using “space-walk,” suggesting that it is a completely alien environment, like somewhere in space.
He then proceeds to say “climb the ladder... to breaking point, where something has to give,” referring back to this idea of him needing his independence and the ‘hindrance’ of his mother. As he climbs further up, he moves away from his mother, but still has her as an “anchor,” connected by the measuring tape. However, there comes a point where the measuring tape can no longer be stretched and he is ready to become independent, but has a need to stay attached to his mother, emphasising her importance. However, when he says “has to give,” he realises that he cannot always depend on his mother and either he has to give up and never become independent, or his mother has to let go. In the next line he says “two floors below your fingertips still pinch,” showing how his mother is still trying to hold on to her son; never letting him become totally independent, suggesting a diminishing importance of his mother.
In the last lines of the poem, he goes back to this idea of becoming totally independent and being able to “fly.” “I reach towards a hatch... to fall or fly,” shows us that he has reached a critical point in his life; almost like a point of no return. He must make the decision of whether to become totally independent, but knowing the importance of his mother, he must also consider staying with his mother. However, by using the word “fall,” he suggests he does not want to rely on his mother anymore, so it seems he has already made his decision to become fully independent and “fly.”
Throughout this poem Armitage constantly reinforces the importance of his mother, with ideas such as an umbilical cord and her being a stable base. However, he hints at ideas that his mother is actually holding him back, like a kite. When he says “two floors below your fingertips...,” he shows us how it is not only his decision to become independent, but also his mother’s decision to allow him and throughout the poem we can see him struggle between two states of mind; one being how he could never leave his mother, but on the other hand he needs to become independent as it is a natural progression in his life.
