Blessing by Imtiaz Dharker

1. The skin cracks like a pod. There never is enough water. Imagine the drip of it, the small splash, echo in a tin mug, the voice of a kindly god. Sometimes, the sudden rush of fortune. The municipal pipe bursts, silver crashes to the ground and the flow has found a roar of tongues. From the huts, a congregation : every man woman child for streets around butts in, with pots, brass, copper, aluminium, plastic buckets, frantic hands, and naked children screaming in the liquid sun, their highlights polished to perfection, flashing light, as the blessing sings over their small bones. Blessing by ImtiazDharker

2. What is the situation being described? • What is the mood in the poem? Does it change? • Where is the setting? What clues are there? • What is the blessing? Explain your thinking? • What imagery can be found? Do any language devices support this? • What pace should the poem be read at? Does it change throughout the poem? • What comments might be made about punctuation? • What cultural features might be taken from the poem? How do I explore a poem? Thoughts and annotations should consider… Interpretation Language (how does a poet use words to create imagery?) Structure (what can be suggested from stanza and line forms?) Personal response (how does a poem make you feel?) Links

3. Considering ‘A lot about a little’ (ALAAL) – analysing a small amount of text in detail • In order to take our understanding of ideas within texts further, we effectively need to put words/ phrases ‘under the magnifying glass’. • These considerations should take 6 forms: • Associations (what sort of things might the word/ words link to?) • Connotations (ideas, thoughts and feelings that come from key words) • Sounds (does the imagery create a pattern of sound linked to context? Is there a rhythm? Rhyme? Onomatopoeia? Alliteration? Sibilance?) • Links (do certain words link to other words in the poem? Why?) • Overall effect (what is the overall effect of this line for the rest of the poem?) • Language (poets are very careful about the language choices they make, think carefully about why they may have chosen their words?)

4. Associations Under the magnifying glass ‘Skin’ is a protective covering for the body ‘cracks’ indicates damage ‘pod’ is where peas or beans are kept, it might also be a home Connotations “skin cracking” seems unnatural as the skin is usually a smooth, soft layer. ‘crack like a pod’ suggests that the skin breaks easily and has been damaged or dehydrated from a lack of water for a long time Sounds The repetition of the ‘s’ sound could be to emphasize the slow nature in which the poem should be read. The ‘s’ sound takes a long time to sound out (pronounce) and in so doing lengthens the audiences reflection on the severity of the drought. ‘The skin cracks like a pod’ Overall effect This line creates a shocking opening to the poem, which ends eventually in a celebration. The affect of the line, reminds us that drought is very real and it encourages us to reflect on the suffering that many face in India and beyond where water shortages occur. Links ‘there never is enough water’ is a direct link expressing the meaning of the simile. Language This simile on the surface might seem an odd comparison, however, the unusual and perhaps even ironic nature of it (given that it is unnatural for the skin to crack, yet might be expected of a pod) is possibly what makes it so memorable.