Frodo Soup

Flag by John Agard Pre-Reading: Ways into the poem ·       Find out about colonialism and independence of Caribbean islands in the 1960s ·       Research John Agard and his other poetry ·       Research countries where the flag has changed for a particular reason e.g. South Africa Language Repetition of ‘it’s just a piece of cloth’ – the word ‘piece’ implies that it is part of a whole, not complete on its own. However, the content of the poem shows that people take the flag as important on its own, without looking at the bigger picture. The fragment becomes the whole culture/ country. ‘fluttering’, ‘unfurling’, ‘rising’, ‘flying’ – verbs about the flag are in the air, transcendent, ephemeral, dominant. ‘knees’, ‘guts’, ‘blood’ – nouns about people emphasise their mortality ‘nation’, ‘men’ – collective nouns show that flags have power over large groups of people not just individua...

Phrasebook by Jo Shapcott (1991) I’m standing here inside my skin, which will do for a Human Remains Pouch for the moment. Look down there (up there). Quickly. Slowly. This is my front room where I’m lost in the action. Live from a war, on screen. I am Englishwoman. I don’t understand you, What’s the matter? You are right. You are wrong. Things are going well (badly). Am I disturbing you? TV is showing bliss as taught to pilots: Blend, Low silhouette, Irregular shape, Small, Secluded. (Please write it down. Please speak slowly.) Bliss is how it was in this very room when I raised my body to his mouth, when he even balanced me in the air, or at least I thought so and yes the pilots say yes they have caught it through the Side-Looking Airbone Radar, and through the J-Stars. I am expecting a gentleman (a young gentleman, two gentlemen, some gentlemen). Please send him (them) up at once. This is really beautiful. Yes they have seen u...