The Grandmother

    In this poem, the American-Indian poet, Ray Young Bear, draws a picture of his grandmother, all-loving. His grandmother would wear a purple scarf around her head for warmth and she would go to market with a plastic shopping bag in her hand. Her shape was also quite remarkable. If the poet saw her from a long distance, he could tell that she was his grandmother. She would come home working in the field and wash her hands. They were wet and the smell of roots. She would put her hands on his head and caress it lovingly. Although they were wet, they would be warm out of love. Before he looked at her face, the smell and warmth would make him guess that it was his grandmother. Sometimes the poet would go to her grave. He would imagine having a grandmother. He could feel that her words moving smoothly inside him like a stream. They would inspire him. In his sad life, he would find a faint glimpse of hope. He would remember the winter night when they were shivering with cold. His grandmother would wake up and try to move the fire which was covered with thick ashes and he would see her from his bed and hope that he would warm body by the open fire.

 

Important Questions

1.     What images do you find in this poem written by a member of the Sauk and Fox (Mesquaki) Indian tribe of North America? To what senses do these images appeal?

2.     How does the speaker feel toward his grandmother? In what words or lines does he make his feelings clear?