From reading these poems selected, I found a common theme I found is her use of food/drink to convey a meaning. (?)
The first poem I am going to discuss is “From the Garden of the Women Once Fallen.” I find her use of wording haunting as she conveys the image of a woman feeling humiliation for something she has done. It is the use of the herb thyme is used as a symbolic meaning of hope, or forgiveness. Goodison writes:
When you dwell among enimies,
You never make them salt your pot.
You never make them know
Your want.
I feel as if this poem is about the biblical reference of adam and eve. How a woman should feel powerless without a man in her presence. I like how she uses salt to write about her enemies, because if you salt something too much, it either doesn’t taste good, or it preserves. I feel like Goodison is trying to write about how if you listen to those who want to bring you down, you aren’t going to be able to advance forward, thus just maintaining where you are (or preserving). BUT a powerful woman will move past the humiliation others make her feel and move forward.
The second poem I am going to discuss is “In the Time of Late-Blooming Pumpkins.” Goodison writes about the biblical reference of virgin Mary being pregnant with Jesus. She writes:
“You are all concieved from sin”
but that is just some false prophet
Goodison then writes about being able to start over, again referencing (the death of) Jesus.