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The Child is Alive

the child is alive tells the story of a slave girl who despite all the horrible things happening to her still believes in stories "A woman who tells stories of magical animals, of talking trees...(13)" telling the stories of her people keeping the culture alive through stories. the child that lives in the woman who tells the ancient stories of her people keeping the children in the people around them alive. the child is not a physical child but an emotional/spiritual child, that lives inside a person.

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Night ease

Night ease talks of women hood as well, talk about Women hood of grandmothers, who carry the families "grandmothers carried loads on their heads, babies in their arms, men in their hearts...lodged itself in their shoulders/ grandmas want to lay their burden down/ by the riverside (6)" the poem explains how at night that's when the grandmothers get their ease from the weight they carry both physically and mentally.

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ATABEYRA

in this poem copper references many different mythologies. Isis and Osiris from Egyptian, Demeter, and Persephone from Greek, Ishtar, and Tammuz from early Mesopotamia, Mary, and Jesus from the bible. all relationships that suffer from pain and longing. the name of the poem is also the main focus ATABEYRA "great mother of the Tainos/ mistress of all moving waters/ lady of childbirth/ moon water (23)" Each story she references shows represents the pain of loss and separation, not always through death. Isis searched for all the parts of Osiris after he was overthrown and cut to pieces. Demeter lost her daughter through marriage to a god. Mary wept about the death of her child. the fact that she makes these references in a poem talking about a lady of childbirth, and a great mother and mistress. Atabeyra was the goddess of the original peoples of the Caribbean, who were wiped out by Columbus when he arrived in the Caribbean. the original mythology is a way of remembering the culture that was there before the colonization of the area happened.

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Daily bread

In daily bread, there is a dedication at the beginning that is "for the aunts". This poem starts off with "My poems come from women talking about blood/ and telling me to listen because, soon I too would experience the bleeding of my moon (46)". this poem talks about the women in her life and the ones she listened to and respected because they have lived their lives as women and learned what they did, so their advice is to always be listened to and trusted. she talks about how strong these women are and what they can do and handle. The dialect in the poem as well indicates the culture they were raised in. A broken English dialect. she talks about going to school next to a prison and getting encouraged to keep studying by the prisoners. "These dark-earthed poems emerge from the blood and bones of our memory (49)" This is one of the ending lines of the daily bread poem. the memories of her ancestors run through her blood, family lines passing down traditions and memories and stories to the next generations.

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comparative...Stories of magic

copper women and daughters of the stone both reference the idea of stories and magic being passed down.

"So, they went to Mother Oshun and asked her to help them start their family. She promised that she would help them. First, they would need to find a special stone and then(llanos- Figueroa 261)" this is the start of Carissa's first story she references, in her section of daughters of the stone. the stone is passed down from one woman to the next in this family line, supposedly it is what gives the women their special ability to heal and understand medicinal ideas.

while in copper women "The stones are speaking/ let them speak! The coconut shells are speaking/let them speak! The cowries are speaking/ let them speak! The sand is speaking/ let it speak! (Cooper 66)" which starts her poem The Stones Are Speaking. The few lines show you see the idea of the stones being alive, as well as other natural elements.

this also brings similarities between one of the daughters in the story daughters of the stone. Concha, her gift was presented through her being able to "hear and listen" to the world around her through her feet. She had a gift that let them communicate with nature to find items that would be in use in medical practices, healing plants. like the few lines from Let the stones speak. shows the communication and understanding of the world around them.

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Horus of my heart

Horus of my heart is a love poem. In this poem, Copper uses references to Egyptian mythology. Horus was an important god the god of kingship and the sky, along with many many other things. Horus is arguably one of the most important gods in the Egyptian pantheon. she refers to the lover as Horus, and later she is referred to herself as his Bastet, which is a consort to Horus. She ends the poem with the word Enter, inviting him to enter her soul.

I enjoy her use of different mythologies throughout all her poems, from personal family stories/legends to well-known mythologies like Egyptian and greek.

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birds of paradise

Birds of paradise tell a story of a mother and her hard work for her children, even when not all of them appreciate it. The poem is of a strong woman connected to her roots, selling fruits and flowers at the local market. She talks about her mother never traveling from the island but knowing stories from the entire world. This poem to me is an appreciation of the mother, an appreciation of women who work hard for the people they love.

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BIOGRAPHY

Well to start lets talk about Afua Cooper born in Westmoreland Jamaica, raised in Kingston, and moved to Canada in 1980. Along with her poem books, copper women and other poems being her fifth book published in 2006. she is a full time professor at Dalhousie university, in the sociology and anthropology department along with contributes to history, and gender and women's studies.

now we talked a little about the authors biography lets talk about the poem biography...one line mentions coopers place of birth "will they write that my mother's father's people/ were maroons from Trelawny and St. Elizabeth/who walked to Westmoreland/ and settled there because they received a dream/ telling them to do so? (31)" the rest of the stanzas also talk about who they would write about if they were to write a biography, she includes small details of the people in her life, like how her father was a mechanic with soft eyes. I think the poem about a biography gives a more personal account of the people in the author's life then a biography would, due to the personal nature of poems compared to the "factual" nature of biographies.

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true revolution

the poem true revolution talks to a person named Kamau, and the poem explains what is preventing a revolution. then at the end talks about the tasks that need to be achieved to have the revolution, the first 4 lines and last 4 lines are in the same the ending have 1 extra line. Bringing the poem full circle with which also plays into the extra line which is "revolution 360 degreeeeeeee (58)".

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my name is Phillis Wheatley

my name is Phillis Wheatley, is a story about the first black person in north America to write a book(25). the first line of the poem is "I was named after a slave ship named after my master and mistress" this line indicated a naming, but you are made aware she is 8, and not from the land she is in.