My Mother at Sixty Six

My Mother at Sixty Six
By : Kamala Das


About the Poet

The poet, Kamala Das also wrote by her pen-name of ‘Madhavikutty’. She was born in Kerala and is one of India’s first poets. Her subject – matter is basically related to her personality- beautiful, sensitive, bold and tormented. External factors do not reflect in her writings, her writings bring out her true inner feelings.
Her favorite poem is ‘composition’.

In the poem ‘My mother at sixty six’, she talks about her mother. This poem is based on mother-daughter relation and the poet shares her feelings for her mother.




NEW / DIFFICULT WORDS
1) doze: a short, light sleep
2) ashen: very pale, like ash.
3) corpse: a dead body.
4) sprinting: here, shooting out of the ground.
5) spilling: here, to move out in great numbers.
6) wan: unnaturally pale, as from physical or emotional distress.
7) ache: pain.