In the poem ‘Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan’ the poet talks about a girl who is a Pakistani, who has been raised in Britain with all the traditions and cultures of the west. She receives presents from her aunts in Pakistan and is left questioning herself as to what identity really is. She admires the ‘salwar kameez’ that she receives but does feel she is a part of that culture and holds back from it by saying ‘I tried each stain-silken top – was alien in the sitting–room. The use of the metaphor ‘alien’ emphasises how different and strange it is for her. Her school friend is not impressed or interested in the clothes as she is not from the same background and doesn’t care which upsets the girl, but she continues wearing the clothes often, reminiscing about how she arrived in England and what life was like back in Pakistan. She may not have been able to be that of what her family are like back in Pakistan or know what she is but she still loves to know more about where she is from and by reminiscing she feels a part of the culture she questions. The poet lets the reader imagine what the girl is feeling by describing the colours and textures of the clothes and being detailed when the girl reminisces, ‘prickly heat had me screaming on the way’. Many people who are from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds can relate to this poem as you are left asking yourself, what am I? After reading this poem or making you think more about how you are and what you see yourself as.
Witchcraft and old beliefs are the difference in the poem ‘Night of the Scorpion’. A young boy describes his mother being stung by a scorpion, her life now in the hands of holy men and ‘a swarm of flies’, this being the peasants (simile) surrounding her curing the ‘Evil one’, a metaphor for the scorpion. All forms of medicine, witchcraft and prayer are used. The boy tries to make sense of it all watching people’s beliefs and conceptions changing in the moments of despair. The boy’s father, being a ‘sceptic, rationalist’ to all of what is happening ends up out of despair ‘trying every curse and blessing, powder, mixture, herb and hybrid. He even poured a little paraffin upon the bitten toe and put a match to it.’ People to this day still follow or believe in witchcraft even though we may never have seen it or do it. Although they speak of witchcraft, in this case to help the mother recover it was white magic, I don’t think of it as being a bad thing and do believe it exists and that herbal medicine that is not recognised by doctors do work sometimes.
The difference between Good and Evil, with Evil being considered as good. Again in the poem ‘Vultures’ the same difference is found. Love is questioned against Evil and thought of as something good and acceptable. There is the idea of vultures being evil birds that feast on dead remains, but then so loving is a paradox. Two vultures are described in the poem, ‘nestled close to his mate his smooth bashed-in head, a pebble on a stem rotted in a dump of gross feathers, inclined affectionately to hers.’ The poem continues by talking about the Commandant at Belsen Camp (Belsen Camp was a Concentration camp during the Nazis’ in Germany) ‘going home for the day’ after a day of killing people, then stops ‘at the westside sweet-shop and pick up a chocolate for his tender offspring’. Here it is about someone whose job it is to kill people, finishes for the day and then lovingly thinks about his child and buys her something sweets. Love is questioned itself in the poem ‘Strange how love in other ways so particular will pick a corner in that charnel-house’. This makes the reader think whether it is the love that the vultures have for each other and the Commandant at Belsen for his child, that gives him the support and allows him to carry on doing what he does which is ‘Evil’. The poet uses imagery to give the reader more understanding of the difference, using different figures of speech such as personification ‘bone of a tree’, and alliteration ‘drizzle of one despondent dawn’. An example of this love that stands by ‘evil’ is Macbeth. Macbeth has the support of his wife who allows him to carry out murders. But a soon as Lady Macbeth dies Mabceth fails to succeed and loses his kingship.
All four poems reflect two differences. Each one has used specific language and detail to support their poem, ‘Nothings Changed’ words such as ‘bunny chow’ and ‘district six’ or in the poem Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan’ words such as ‘salwar kameez’ and ‘Shalimar Gardens’. Each poet was written at the time where I think the poet felt they had experienced what they might have written themselves or had heard about it through the period they were in. The poem signifies differences in people’s beliefs, ideologies and what people around them think and act. I feel I can relate to each of the poems in one way or more. The poems are each written to a specific audience of readers and do give a moral or leave the reader thinking more about what has been said in the poem e.g. ‘Vultures’ leaves the reader questioning love and how it shapes out in different ways and forms.