Poetic Techniques in "Keeping Orchids": How Kay explores the relationship between a daughter and estranged mother Zanele Pretty Munjanja 12th Grade

Jackie Kay once wrote in an article for ‘The Guardian’ newspaper that ‘being adopted is like having a double life. Being a writer is like having a double life. You live in two worlds at once…when you’re adopted and you trace your original parents, those two worlds collide’. With this, it is perhaps clear to see that Kay explores the autobiographical first meeting with her ‘estranged’ mother in the poem through a somewhat dislocated lens. The poem having been written in Kay’s collection entitled, ‘the adoption papers’, draws into the poets experiences of identity, a common and universal theme that she regularly explores alongside the themes of relationships and temporality. In addition to the themes examined, the poet further uses a range of literary devices such as enjambment which create a sense of tension, as well as synecdoche and alliteration.

The use of these literary devices as well as the structure of the poem written in couplets until the last lines further helps reveals the poem and relationship as a journey. The very first lines of the poem, ‘the orchids my mother gave me when we first met are still alive’, provide an extension for its ambiguous title, ‘Keeping orchids’. This framing device helps set the scene for the...