Keeping Orchids
The poem deals with Kay meeting her birth mother for the first time. Kay uses the symbol of the orchid, a gift from her mother, to portray the difficulties in their relationship.
The orchid is an exotic flower that is challenging to look after. It comes to represent:
- Kay as a baby, given up for adoption
- the reunion between the women
- the difficulty of keeping their relationship alive
The meeting is emotionally complicated. The mother is very reticent and keeps the ‘story of her life’ hidden and secret. Kay finds it hard to understand her mother and to process her own feelings and responses to the situation. She uses the orchid to explore emotion stirred up by her past and this woman.