For the this semester we were given a project in which we were to create a 90 second animation based upon a poetry. The poetry project is a collaboration between the MA Animation students and the Poetry Society.
The Poetry Society
The Poetry Society is a charitable organisation, that provides support, information and merchandise for specialists and the general public. They engage with and support diverse poetry audiences. Founded in 1909 to promote “a more general recognition and appreciation of poetry”. Since then, it has grown into one of Britain’s most dynamic arts organisations, representing British poetry both nationally and internationally. With more than 5,000 members worldwide, it publishes the UK’s leading poetry magazine, The Poetry Review, which has been published since 1912. With innovative education and commissioning programmes and a packed calendar of performances, readings and competitions, The Poetry Society champions poetry for all ages.
Sons and Mothers (Ama ra Chora) by Mukahang Limbu
Sleeping on my mother’s bed, at my age, doesn’t
feel so strange. It is warm, and the pillow
smells like her hair. The blanket, her embrace.
***
Sons are the mustard sweat stains on white collars. They need to be hand washed-
Sons are the skin hanging off sun-soaked lips. They need to be snipped with teeth-
Sons are the fingerprints of hands hidden in pockets. They need the need to be kept a secret-
Sons are the holes in orange socks. They need to be mended and sewn together as a closed mouth
***
I pray to God
With a candle-
A wax pinhole with the face of the Moon.
Mother says,
Make milk.
I bathe my hands in the white.
Mother, makes me
Strike a match.
It burns like secrets spoken for the first time.
(My secret is that I always want to talk to you…)
I am a child that chases lost voices.
***
In front of God I am shy.
I clasp hands.
Sometime I even cry.
Because I ask.
For.
You.
Sleeping in your bed, at this age does not feel so strange, because that’s where I was born. In your arms.
Poets Explanation
I don’t remember the context of the poem, but I had written it during a time when I was growing up, and becoming my own person, outside of my relationship with my mother. It is thinking about how as we get older that the things we did as children have become uncomfortable, but there is a loss in this experience, as well as a nostalgia and comfort. The striking match comes from the moment when my mother and I prayed to our small temple, in our homes, by lighting a diyo. I think growing up is like being in prayer, so much of it is in secret and by yourself. But overall, I think I’m trying to figure out what it means to be a son growing up and getting further away from my mother, yet still hoping for an closeness that is lost when growing up.
References
poems.poetrysociety.org.uk. (n.d.). Sons and Mothers – The Poetry Society: Poems. [online] Available at: https://poems.poetrysociety.org.uk/poems/sons-and-mothers/ [Accessed 22 Apr. 2023].
Arsalan Awais 