The Gift
In this poem, the narrator recalls getting a splinter as a young child. He distinctly remembers how much this sliver hurt; so great was the pain that was convinced a knife must have been embedded in his palm. Out of fear, Lee’s narrator seeks his father help in removing the splinter. The boy’s father kneels down and begins to tell his son a story—a story that was so invigorating and moving that, by the time he’d finished, the narrator realized that the sliver had been removed from his palm. Though the speaker does not remember what the story was about, he does remember the way his father’s voice sounded when he spoke to him—smooth, calm, and assured. He remembers how gentle and tender his father was when helping him. Now, years later, the man is deploying this same strategy with his wife as he shaves her thumbnail down to remove a splinter. In this way, the narrator of his poem views his childhood experience as a gift, for it allowed him to utilize this same strategy today, and help ease his wife’s pain and anxiety.
Early in the Morning
In this poem, Li-Young Lee once again reflects upon a specific childhood experience; he reminisces about his parents’ morning routine. Each morning, he could hear the sound of long grain rice boiling in a pot of water on the stove, next to a collection of sliced vegetables—all of which would be used to prepare breakfast. He remembers his mother sitting at the foot of her bed, running a comb meticulously through her hair. The narrator remembers that his father would watch his mother brushing her hair every morning. Once she has brushed her hair, the narrator’s mother pulls it back into a tight bun. The speaker realizes that his father enjoys this morning ritual because, when his mother pulls the pins out of her hair at the end of the day, it cascades out of the bun like a beautiful curtain.
Eating Together
The narrator reflects upon the cathartic act of consuming a meal in the company of others. He recalls a specific evening when his mother used a steamer to make a meal of trout, ginger, green onion, and rice. The narrator and his mother, brothers, and sister consumed the meal together. He can recall a specific moment when his mother saved the sweetest piece of meat, from the head, for herself. It is revealed that this is one of the first meals the family has shared together in relative peace since the narrator’s father passed away a few weeks ago. This meal, therefore, is particularly meaningful to the speaker, as it represents a period of much-needed peace in a sea of familial grief.
