An Analysis of the Use of Regression in Warsan Shire's “Backwards” Betty Kwamboka College

In "Backwards," the persona and her sister cope through a technique referred to as regression. The coping makes them walk backward on a mental level. During the walking, they experience both good and bad memories from the past. The employment of regression in "Backwards" demonstrates how long-lasting desires can manifest in the present through conscious and unconscious memories and how regression can be used to confront traumas from the past.

First, the persona visualizes their dad who is no longer present. She describes, "The poem can start with him walking backwards into the room/He takes off his jacket and sits down for the rest of his life" (Shire, lines 1-2). Here, the persona exhibits an unconscious longing for their father, who is no longer in their life. By regressing, they go back to a period in their life when he would be with them in a room. Imagining their father back in their lives offers psychological relief, albeit temporary. They can only bring back the dad in their minds. His sitting there forever means that they will not lose him again. However, his returning physically may be an impossibility. Warsan Shire underscores the potency of regression by including imageries of “blood run(ing) back up my noise”...