I first studied ‘At the Park’ when I was sixteen years old as part of the poetry component of my HSC Curriculum. I first studied this poem at an age when I had no business, I think, to be studying it at all.
At the time, I used all the perfunctory language I had been taught to use to earn extra ‘points’ in essays. I studied the technicalities; I had no appreciation for what the poem was actually saying.
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“Someone she loved once passed by – too late / to feign indifference to that casual nod.”
Look at that magnificent run-on sentence between the first and second stanzas. Also at that pained embarrassment one may occasionally feel during an unwanted meeting; especially when the children are not behaving. Worse, it’s an ex-boyfriend, that ultimate indignity when one is feeling exposed and vulnerable. And the wonderful image of ‘thought-bubbles’; the cartoonish simplicity of people’s thoughts, when one is sure of how the cogs of another’s brain is ticking – not in their favour, either.
Mostly, I get it now, get it so completely that I read and re-read the line many times, “They have eaten me alive,” and have committed it to my memory to mutter it to myself at times of trial.
Gwen Harwood is one of Australia’s most beloved poets. I do not want you to think that all of her poems were of this depressive ilk; I just like this one because it is a meditative, realistic peek into the lives of women as mothers. This was first published in 1961, but it could’ve been written yesterday.
Check her out; for I am reading her now with 13 years extra wisdom, and I choke up with their truth. Well, her truth. And her truth is my truth, sometimes.
It may be the same case for you.
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If you’re interested, Gwen Harwood’s Collected Poems is a wonderful book (it sits pride of place on my shelves). Out of the poems I’ve written, a personal favourite is ‘In The Park, which was my tribute to her (and an award-winner). It can be found in my book Crying in the Car – Reflections on Life and Creativity.
If you’re new to creative writing – or need a motivation boost – this will help: Trust the Process: 101 Tips on Writing and Creativity
