Central Idea and Summary

Central idea

At its heart the poem is about the pain a daughter feels when she becomes fully aware of her mother's old age and of the certainty of eventually losing her. It explores the fear of separation through death, the tender and anxious love between a parent and a grown child, and the way human beings often hide their deepest fears behind a calm, reassuring exterior. The poet does not protest against ageing or death; she simply records, with quiet honesty, the sudden dread that a small domestic moment can awaken, and the loving effort to master that dread.

Summary

The poet describes a journey by car from her parents' home to the Cochin airport. Her aged mother is seated beside her. As they travel, the poet turns to look at her mother, who has fallen asleep with her mouth slightly open. The mother's face appears drained of colour — dull, pale and worn — and in that instant it looks almost lifeless to the poet, like the face of a dead person. This sight fills her with a sharp, familiar fear: the fear of losing her mother, an ache she has carried since childhood.

Finding this thought too painful to dwell on, the poet deliberately looks away from her mother and out of the car window. Outside she sees images that speak of energy, growth and youthfulness — trees that seem to be racing past as the car speeds along, and cheerful young children running out of their homes to play. She sets these lively, vigorous pictures against the frail, ageing figure beside her, as if trying to distract herself with the bustle of ongoing life.

When they reach the airport and the poet has passed through the security check, she stands a little apart and looks back at her mother once more. Again she is struck by how pale and faded her mother has grown, comparing her wan face to a colourless, late-winter moon — a moon that has lost its brightness. The old fear returns with full force. …