Within the Language, Culture and Identity module, six of Ali Cobby Eckermann's poems from the collection Inside my Mother (Giramondo Publishing) have been set for study. 

These poems are ‘Trance’, ‘Unearth’, ‘Oombulgarri’, ‘Eyes’,  ‘Leaves’ and ‘Key’.

Introductory PowerPoint Presentation

Motif of the mother

Before we look at the six selected poems in detail we need to consider the significance of the title of this collection of poems, Inside My Mother.

The cover of Inside My Mother shows a fish trap that the poet has woven from old fence wire, painted brightly. Like her sculptures, Ali Cobby Eckerman's poems use simple elements to weave something complex, delicate and strong.

The word ‘mother’ has all sorts of connotations in this work, and each of those is built as layers that pick up and expand the themes of the work as the poems progress through the collection. 

There is the mother tongue – a language that has had to be submerged but which remains as a ghost through the work. The work is written in English but there is a combination of vernacular, the ‘voice’ of the natural world: birdsong, water, rock, tribal music, and the collective sound of a nation. There is the notion of mother as mother country or homeland with all of its the cultural history, law and the lore. This is the land to which the poet belongs – her heritage, and by implication, the land to which we all belong (and to which we will all return). It’s the motherlode.

Multiple Mothers

Poetic Devices used by Eckermann

• use of specific place names

• use of specific names of species (plant and animal)

• symbols

• absence of or minimal use of punctuation

• sonic or aural qualities: sounds and silence

• personification of place and features of place

• repetitions

• choices of persona: first person narrator

• dominance of Standard Australian English punctuated by Aboriginal language words and some pidgin English (reflects journey back to her Aboriginal identity and her cross cultural experience of shifting identity)

• use of the vernacular

• first person lyrical verse: tends to capture individual identity

• third person narrative: tends to capture collective identity

• apparent simplicity of style to communicate complex ideas and culture

• surreal imagery in Eyes

• refrain e.g. Trance

• allusion to historical events e.g. Oombulgarri

• direct address/ use of plural personal pronouns e.g. Unearth