"Catrin"
The speaker in "Catrin" addresses her now-adolescent daughter, describing the day of Catrin's birth. The speaker recounts how she colored in the sterile white environment of the hospital room with bodily and sonic expressions, reflecting the way that becoming a parent adds more vibrancy and perhaps disorder to one's life. A cord of love and conflict (originally the umbilical cord) will connect this mother and daughter for the rest of their lives.
"Lunchtime Lecture"
In "Lunchtime Lecture," the speaker encounters the preserved skull of a long-dead Stone Age woman. She juxtaposes the scientific and impersonal information that she learns with an imagined living version of this woman, creating an intimate feeling of connection. Ultimately, this poem comments on the ephemerality of human existence compared to geological time.
"Heron at Port Talbot"
While driving near the Port Talbot Steelworks, the speaker in this poem nearly crashes into a flying heron. This leads the speaker to consider the collision between nature and industry, and the ways in which other species are impacted by human industry. At times, the steel mill takes on biological qualities, such as when Clarke depicts it as having bones. At the end of the poem, the speaker imagines that both she and the heron are equally affected by their encounter.
"Neighbours"
"Neighbours" concerns the aftermath of the disastrous 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Nuclear fallout caused radiation sickness and contamination across different European countries, affecting millions of humans, plants, and animals. These environmental and health effects unite people living in these different places. Though the poem begins with a bleak and apocalyptic tone, it ultimately ends on a hopeful note.
"Musician"
In "Musician," the speaker uses auditory imagery to describe a bitterly cold winter when her son Owain learns to play the piano. Both the snow and the music are infused with a holy sense of wonder. Despite the sensory deprivation caused by the snow, the speaker thaws her frozen self through the beauty of the music. She goes to sleep, dreams, and wakes to Owain's piano-playing.
