An even shape

An Even Shape

Her garden looks into my window

criss-crossed by the white lattice.

Coolers they call them but they are also

hiding places for small girls playing

Her garden stands neatly round her house

travels politely onto the veranda

to sit in pots or hang

Leafly down From large, earth coloured

urns

She lives with Mama, shepherding her with

her full body

The hesitant ins and outs off Mama's half-

blind days

Feeding her frail consciousness With edited

Gleaner news

And homemade chicken soup.

In her home, borrowed children touch her

china birds with hands man

Wiped clean from eating sticky cakes, each

with a cherry on top

or pressed moist, Restless kisses round

The corners of her smile.

Sometimes she fills the space out

With music, spreading out nostalgia through

Strings of flutes, old fashioned love songs

Of blue moons and forever until.

Shameful peeping Tom, sit silent in

My lattice watching the even shape of her

days

To catch just once, a wider open door

behind

Her steady eyes.

But in her green edged privacy, self -con-

tained

She keeps her half- drawn shutters of her life

Open just so, amid mocks of my greed and rest-

lessness

With a calm refusal to to be other than she

seems.

Direction: Read the poem and answer the questions that follow.

The following phrase is meant to be taken literally?

• a) “ hiding places for small girls” (line 4)

• b) “her garden.../ Travels politely onto the veranda” ( line 5-6)

• c) “ feeding her frail consciousness” ( line 14)

• d) “watching the even shape of her days”( lines 28-29 )

An Even Shape

Her garden looks into my window

criss-crossed by the white lattice.

Coolers they call them but they are also

hiding places for small girls playing

Her garden stands neatly round her house

travels politely onto the veranda

to sit in pots or hang

Leafly down From large, earth coloured

urns

She lives with Mama, shepherding her with

her full body

The hesitant ins and outs off Mama's half-

blind days

Feeding her frail consciousness With edited

Gleaner news

And homemade chicken soup.

In her home, borrowed children touch her

china birds with hands man

Wiped clean from eating sticky cakes, each

with a cherry on top

or pressed moist, Restless kisses round

The corners of her smile.

Sometimes she fills the space out

With music, spreading out nostalgia through

Strings of flutes, old fashioned love songs

Of blue moons and forever until.

Shameful peeping Tom, sit silent in

My lattice watching the even shape of her

days

To catch just once, a wider open door

behind

Her steady eyes.

But in her green edged privacy, self -con-

tained

She keeps her half- drawn shutters of her life

Open just so, amid mocks of my greed and rest-

lessness

With a calm refusal to to be other than she

seems.

Direction: Read the poem and answer the questions that follow.

The following phrase is meant to be taken literally?

• a) “ hiding places for small girls” (line 4)

• b) “her garden.../ Travels politely onto the veranda” ( line 5-6)

• c) “ feeding her frail consciousness” ( line 14)

• d) “watching the even shape of her days”( lines 28-29 )

An Even Shape

Her garden looks into my window

criss-crossed by the white lattice.

Coolers they call them but they are also

hiding places for small girls playing

Her garden stands neatly round her house

travels politely onto the veranda

to sit in pots or hang

Leafly down From large, earth coloured

urns

She lives with Mama, shepherding her with

her full body

The hesitant ins and outs off Mama's half-

blind days

Feeding her frail consciousness With edited

Gleaner news

And homemade chicken soup.

In her home, borrowed children touch her

china birds with hands man

Wiped clean from eating sticky cakes, each

with a cherry on top

or pressed moist, Restless kisses round

The corners of her smile.

Sometimes she fills the space out

With music, spreading out nostalgia through

Strings of flutes, old fashioned love songs

Of blue moons and forever until.

Shameful peeping Tom, sit silent in

My lattice watching the even shape of her

days

To catch just once, a wider open door

behind

Her steady eyes.

But in her green edged privacy, self -con-

tained

She keeps her half- drawn shutters of her life

Open just so, amid mocks of my greed and rest-

lessness

With a calm refusal to to be other than she

seems.

Direction: Read the poem and answer the questions that follow.

The garden seemed “criss-crossed” (line 2) because the ______________.

• a) because the point was looking at through a lattice window

• b) garden beds were laid out in squares

• c) children were walking across the garden

• d) the persona looking at the garden was cross-eyed

An Even Shape

Her garden looks into my window

criss-crossed by the white lattice.

Coolers they call them but they are also

hiding places for small girls playing

Her garden stands neatly round her house

travels politely onto the veranda

to sit in pots or hang

Leafly down From large, earth coloured

urns

She lives with Mama, shepherding her with

her full body

The hesitant ins and outs off Mama's half-

blind days

Feeding her frail consciousness With edited

Gleaner news

And homemade chicken soup.

In her home, borrowed children touch her

china birds with hands man

Wiped clean from eating sticky cakes, each

with a cherry on top

or pressed moist, Restless kisses round

The corners of her smile.

Sometimes she fills the space out

With music, spreading out nostalgia through

Strings of flutes, old fashioned love songs

Of blue moons and forever until.

Shameful peeping Tom, sit silent in

My lattice watching the even shape of her

days

To catch just once, a wider open door

behind

Her steady eyes.

But in her green edged privacy, self -con-

tained

She keeps her half- drawn shutters of her life

Open just so, amid mocks of my greed and rest-

lessness

With a calm refusal to to be other than she

seems.

Direction: Read the poem and answer the questions that follow.

Her garden stands neatly around her house” line 5 tells us that _________.

• a) There were several well-kept potted plants on stands around the house

• b) several tall tree stood along the side of the house

• c) the garden that surrounded her house was well kept

• d) the woman cleaned the flowers stands everyday

An Even Shape

Her garden looks into my window

criss-crossed by the white lattice.

Coolers they call them but they are also

hiding places for small girls playing

Her garden stands neatly round her house

travels politely onto the veranda

to sit in pots or hang

Leafly down From large, earth coloured

urns

She lives with Mama, shepherding her with

her full body

The hesitant ins and outs off Mama's half-

blind days

Feeding her frail consciousness With edited

Gleaner news

And homemade chicken soup.

In her home, borrowed children touch her

china birds with hands man

Wiped clean from eating sticky cakes, each

with a cherry on top

or pressed moist, Restless kisses round

The corners of her smile.

Sometimes she fills the space out

With music, spreading out nostalgia through

Strings of flutes, old fashioned love songs

Of blue moons and forever until.

Shameful peeping Tom, sit silent in

My lattice watching the even shape of her

days

To catch just once, a wider open door

behind

Her steady eyes.

But in her green edged privacy, self -con-

tained

She keeps her half- drawn shutters of her life

Open just so, amid mocks of my greed and rest-

lessness

With a calm refusal to to be other than she

seems.

Direction: Read the poem and answer the questions that follow.

The poet uses the words “frail consciousness” (lines 14) the show with that Mama _________.

• a) was unconscious most of the time

• b) was not understanding as well as she used to

• c) I had fainted because of lack of food

• d) was thin and weak and could hardly walk

An Even Shape

Her garden looks into my window

criss-crossed by the white lattice.

Coolers they call them but they are also

hiding places for small girls playing

Her garden stands neatly round her house

travels politely onto the veranda

to sit in pots or hang

Leafly down From large, earth coloured

urns

She lives with Mama, shepherding her with

her full body

The hesitant ins and outs off Mama's half-

blind days

Feeding her frail consciousness With edited

Gleaner news

And homemade chicken soup.

In her home, borrowed children touch her

china birds with hands man

Wiped clean from eating sticky cakes, each

with a cherry on top

or pressed moist, Restless kisses round

The corners of her smile.

Sometimes she fills the space out

With music, spreading out nostalgia through

Strings of flutes, old fashioned love songs

Of blue moons and forever until.

Shameful peeping Tom, sit silent in

My lattice watching the even shape of her

days

To catch just once, a wider open door

behind

Her steady eyes.

But in her green edged privacy, self -con-

tained

She keeps her half- drawn shutters of her life

Open just so, amid mocks of my greed and rest-

lessness

With a calm refusal to to be other than she

seems.

Direction: Read the poem and answer the questions that follow.

Which of the following best describes the woman's extra thoughtfulness of her mother____________.

• a) “she lives with Mama shepherding her with/ her full body”( lines 10 - 11)

• b) “press moist, breathless kisses” (line 21)

• c) “feeding her... which edited/ Gleaner news” ( lines 14 to 15)

• d) “spreading out nostalgia through/ strings and flutes” lines 24-25

An Even Shape

Her garden looks into my window

criss-crossed by the white lattice.

Coolers they call them but they are also

hiding places for small girls playing

Her garden stands neatly round her house

travels politely onto the veranda

to sit in pots or hang

Leafly down From large, earth coloured

urns

She lives with Mama, shepherding her with

her full body

The hesitant ins and outs off Mama's half-

blind days

Feeding her frail consciousness With edited

Gleaner news

And homemade chicken soup.

In her home, borrowed children touch her

china birds with hands man

Wiped clean from eating sticky cakes, each

with a cherry on top

or pressed moist, Restless kisses round

The corners of her smile.

Sometimes she fills the space out

With music, spreading out nostalgia through

Strings of flutes, old fashioned love songs

Of blue moons and forever until.

Shameful peeping Tom, sit silent in

My lattice watching the even shape of her

days

To catch just once, a wider open door

behind

Her steady eyes.

But in her green edged privacy, self -con-

tained

She keeps her half- drawn shutters of her life

Open just so, amid mocks of my greed and rest-

lessness

With a calm refusal to to be other than she

seems.

Direction: Read the poem and answer the questions that follow.

The poet uses the phrase " borrow children " ( line 17) to show _________.

• a) how much she loved children

• b) that she had no children of her own

• c) that she did not want children

• d) why she made the children wash their dirty hand

An Even Shape

Her garden looks into my window

criss-crossed by the white lattice.

Coolers they call them but they are also

hiding places for small girls playing

Her garden stands neatly round her house

travels politely onto the veranda

to sit in pots or hang

Leafly down From large, earth coloured

urns

She lives with Mama, shepherding her with

her full body

The hesitant ins and outs off Mama's half-

blind days

Feeding her frail consciousness With edited

Gleaner news

And homemade chicken soup.

In her home, borrowed children touch her

china birds with hands man

Wiped clean from eating sticky cakes, each

with a cherry on top

or pressed moist, Restless kisses round

The corners of her smile.

Sometimes she fills the space out

With music, spreading out nostalgia through

Strings of flutes, old fashioned love songs

Of blue moons and forever until.

Shameful peeping Tom, sit silent in

My lattice watching the even shape of her

days

To catch just once, a wider open door

behind

Her steady eyes.

But in her green edged privacy, self -con-

tained

She keeps her half- drawn shutters of her life

Open just so, amid mocks of my greed and rest-

lessness

With a calm refusal to to be other than she

seems.

Direction: Read the poem and answer the questions that follow.

Which of the following were done by the children to show their love for the woman?

I. wiping their hands before touching the China bird

II. eating all the sticky cakes she made them

III. kissing her on the side of her lips

• a) I and II only

• b) I and III only

• c) II and III only

• d) I, II and III

Lines 21 to 22 suggest that woman

• a) was the member of an orchestra

• b) enjoyed listening to romantic music

• c) liked to play loud music

• d) spread the musical instruments around the house

An Even Shape

Her garden looks into my window

criss-crossed by the white lattice.

Coolers they call them but they are also

hiding places for small girls playing

Her garden stands neatly round her house

travels politely onto the veranda

to sit in pots or hang

Leafly down From large, earth coloured

urns

She lives with Mama, shepherding her with

her full body

The hesitant ins and outs off Mama's half-

blind days

Feeding her frail consciousness With edited

Gleaner news

And homemade chicken soup.

In her home, borrowed children touch her

china birds with hands man

Wiped clean from eating sticky cakes, each

with a cherry on top

or pressed moist, Restless kisses round

The corners of her smile.

Sometimes she fills the space out

With music, spreading out nostalgia through

Strings of flutes, old fashioned love songs

Of blue moons and forever until.

Shameful peeping Tom, sit silent in

My lattice watching the even shape of her

days

To catch just once, a wider open door

behind

Her steady eyes.

But in her green edged privacy, self -con-

tained

She keeps her half- drawn shutters of her life

Open just so, amid mocks of my greed and rest-

lessness

With a calm refusal to to be other than she

seems.

Direction: Read the poem and answer the questions that follow.

"To catch, just once, a wider open door behind her steady eyes,” (lines 30-31) tells us that the

• a) poet wanted to find out something more about the woman

• b) woman should open her front door wider

• c) woman's eyes were always wide open

• d) poet wanted to catch her when her door was open