the poverty of the woman who turned herself into stone
DESCRIPTION
PoemFilipino AuthorPhilippine LiteratureEnglish PoemWomen RightsSacrificeTRANSCRIPT
THE POVERTY OF THE WOMAN WHO TURNED HERSELF INTO STONEBy Lina Sagaral-Reyes
“Into stone,This struggle Has turned me into stone.”
She has no hands.She is the folded hand.A fist, frozen. PermafrostAnger that cannot thaw into sorrow.
She has no eyesShe is the blinded eye.She is her own blinding dark.At noon, her socket carries the night.
She is all ears.Voices weigh her down.She sinks into a swill of noises.Silence is not always her own choice.
She wears a monochrome of gray.Clowns, orphans, soldiers at war – Their laughter has that stone – Texture of gray.
PERSONA:The persona is the poet
UNLOCKING DIFFICULTIES:PERMAFROST – a permanently frozen layer at variable depth below the surface in frigid regions of the planet
MONOCHROME – showing only black and white and shades of gray
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE USED: METAPHOR – assumes a comparison between two objects. It is almost like a
simile except that it does not use the word “as or like”. The semblance or the comparison is only IMPLIED.
BACKGROUND OF THE AUTHOR:LINA SAGARAL-REYES (1961) is a Boholana who moved to Manila in
the Mid-80’s, she graduated from Silliman University in Dumaguete. While
working, she also wrote articles for magazines and poetry for herself. When she got sick with a serious illness in 1990, she returned to Bohol. She now files news stories about rural women with the Women’s Feature Service. She has a collection of poetry: Honing Weapons (1987) and Storya (1993)
MEANING OF THE POEM:The poet initially brings attention to a remark of the character about turning into
stone as a result of a certain struggle. The succeeding paragraphs describe her as having no hands; compare her to a folded hand and frozen fist with frozen anger, as having no eyes and compare her to a blinded eye though of her own choice; and having very sensitive ears, but is overwhelmed by the voices around her. The last stanza brings attention to other characters like the clowns, orphans, and soldiers of war whose laughter has the characteristics of a stone. There seems to be a tension in the poem as reflected in the negative image of hardness brought about by a large and disturbing theme of the harsh reality of life, specifically, poverty.