AS SEEDS BETWEEN TEETH SPLIT 'The Witness', 'The Naming', 'Memories and Talismans' and 'This Sile... more AS SEEDS BETWEEN TEETH SPLIT 'The Witness', 'The Naming', 'Memories and Talismans' and 'This Silent Place' trace the life story of my maternal Grandmother, Doris (formerly Dorris) Eloise Butcher nee Benjamin. Her story begins in Jamaica, where she was born in 1900, and lived until the age of thirty. After meeting and marrying my English Grandfather, Charles Horace Butcher, she migrated to London, and then in 1971, following my mother's marriage, migrated once again, to Australia. The poems explore notions of belonging, dislocation, migration, and familial and Colonial silences. From my perspective, in the subtropical , suburban Newcastle landscape where I grew up, and where she lived until she died in 1989, I re-imagine my Grandmother, retrace her footsteps. My Grandmother was born 'illegitimate' and 'The Witness' looks at the silences that exist surrounding her birth. However, there is difficulty witnessing a silent story, one that, like the Australian landscape, has many layers of erasure including the dual lack of the witness to the birth and my witnessing of the account, or lack of testimony. Whilst it is essential to remain sensitive to these personal silences, so many women's stories remain untold. 'The Naming', as its title suggests, further investigates the issue of 'naming', focusing on the signing of the name Benjamin on my Grandmother's marriage certificate. Whilst 'Memories and Talismans' and 'This Silent Place' seek connections, unearthing my Grandmother's thoughts and desires for 'home'.
AS SEEDS BETWEEN TEETH SPLIT 'The Witness', 'The Naming', 'Memories and Talismans' and 'This Sile... more AS SEEDS BETWEEN TEETH SPLIT 'The Witness', 'The Naming', 'Memories and Talismans' and 'This Silent Place' trace the life story of my maternal Grandmother, Doris (formerly Dorris) Eloise Butcher nee Benjamin. Her story begins in Jamaica, where she was born in 1900, and lived until the age of thirty. After meeting and marrying my English Grandfather, Charles Horace Butcher, she migrated to London, and then in 1971, following my mother's marriage, migrated once again, to Australia. The poems explore notions of belonging, dislocation, migration, and familial and Colonial silences. From my perspective, in the subtropical , suburban Newcastle landscape where I grew up, and where she lived until she died in 1989, I re-imagine my Grandmother, retrace her footsteps. My Grandmother was born 'illegitimate' and 'The Witness' looks at the silences that exist surrounding her birth. However, there is difficulty witnessing a silent story, one that, like the Australian landscape, has many layers of erasure including the dual lack of the witness to the birth and my witnessing of the account, or lack of testimony. Whilst it is essential to remain sensitive to these personal silences, so many women's stories remain untold. 'The Naming', as its title suggests, further investigates the issue of 'naming', focusing on the signing of the name Benjamin on my Grandmother's marriage certificate. Whilst 'Memories and Talismans' and 'This Silent Place' seek connections, unearthing my Grandmother's thoughts and desires for 'home'.
“Caribbean Dislocations/Caribbean Diasporas”: The 2010 Conference for the Association of Caribbean Women Writers and Scholars (ACWWS), Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA. , 2010
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