My Father's Diary
Sharon Olds incorporates the text from her Father's diary within her poem. She begins by telling of how she gets into her bed along with the diary, and opens its lock, which resembles a scarab beetle. Within the diary is a large number of papers, covered in her Father's hand-writing. He was unable to write in a script-like manner and so printed each letter, giving some sturdiness to the diary. He recounts viewing cars, and the positive mood of his own Father at dinner time. He tries out some new racquets for tennis and has lunch with his Mother. Olds notes at this point that it seems like a life of ease, except for the point when he crashes his Father's car and it hits a tree, wrecking the bonnet. An easy life, up until he describe Lois, whom he describes extensively, having lunch with her, playing tennis together and gong on extended drives with her. He cannot believe he is with such an amazing girl, who is sweet and generous. He cannot fathom what he has done to deserve her, which he expresses in a rhetorical question.
Olds notices that between the letters and words, the thoughts and deep being of the growing boy are seen in the print. He pours out his heart, kneeling in the pine-needles before Lois. Olds emphasizes that it is her Father who has written these accounts, and that he is dead, having left her only these small foundations of his brain, so she can get to know her.
Earliest Memory
Olds describes an early memory in this poem. A deep light punctuated by bars that fills the room like heat. The light is extensively described as solid and a warm, amber color. A shadow is seen moving across the light. It moves slowly, but freely too. The bars remain fixed, holding their shape. The light remains strong and concentrated. The person moves within the light, but it remains fixed. The movement of this person is described and the the wall is described as bent, creating a box like room, where Olds lies.
The Flurry
This poem presents a narrative in which the speaker of the poem and her husband attempt to figure out how to share the news of their divorce with their children. The topic makes the speaker feel like a killer, and when she tells him this, he pretends he is the killer, holding her wrists. He is sitting on the sofa, she is on the floor. She looks upwards at him. This particular night feels different to her - it is causing less pain. She wonders if it is because her partner is drinking wine, one that comes from the place she was born. They share the same glass and he has warned her of his cold, telling her to make sure she doesn't catch it. He then remarks that she wants to catch his cold, and Olds regrets telling him that.
She tells this man that she will attempt to stop loving him, but she really thinks she will love him until she dies. When he tells her he loves her, she that is the mother of their children, it makes her shed some tears. She imagines many tears streaming from her eyes and hopes they will fall from her eyes.
The Enchantment
Olds asks her mother about a good aspect of herself when she was a child. She describes her mother's face as it unfolds with joy, and she tell her she was 'enchanting,' as a child. Olds questions what this means, thinking it a synonym for crazy. Her mother laughs at her, repeating her verdict that she was 'enchanting.' Again Olds asks what this means, confusing it for possessed, or possibly brain-damaged. Her mother smiles this time, and explains that there was something special about Olds as a child, particularly in the way she observed things.
Olds feels she is beginning to understand, remembering how she presented a stunned look in photographs, which suggested a child that understood nothing. After a week, she changes her mind and decides it was a gaze of wonder. In a few days' time, she sees the light of love on her mother's face, and on this particular day, she really hears her. her mother didn't say enchanted.
Olds thinks upon the connection between her mother and herself, as she was conceived and carried in her mother's womb. She wonders if, when they are gone, her mother will honor her by continuing to enchant.
