Postcard
Significant that ‘Postcard’ is the final poem in the anthology as it symbolically represents the ambivalence that Skryznecki feels about belonging to his cultural heritage
He refuses to answer the “voices of red gables” in Poland, but he cannot ignore his spiritual connection to this place, “We will meet before you die.”
Combination of the first person and the second person address to the city of Warsaw –“I never knew you” –replicates natural speech -reinforced by the use of the dash to represent a reflective pause while Skryznecki gathers his thoughts, and the rhetorical questions that convey his uncertainty and frustration –“What’s my choice to be?”
Skryznecki employs apostrophe to directly address the old city of Warsaw as if it is a living being, “Warsaw, Old Town, I never knew you…” He proceeds to describe passionately through emotive verbs –“destroyed”, “massacred” and “exiled” –the terrible destruction that instigated the migration of his parents and others to Australia, taking them away from a home that they “cherish.”
His adamant denial of a connection builds in the second section, as he defiantly proclaims in the imperative voice “Let me be.” Even the use of the comma following the verb “repeat” in the line “I repeat, I never knew you” slows the pace of the line emphasising his rejection of Warsaw. This is reinforced in the final line in this section when he ends his rhetorical question with the disturbing, emotive noun “despair”.
The prophetic last four lines in section three of the poem signify that although Skryznecki denies emphatically the call of his birthplace and his cultural heritage, he will always be connected to Europe. This admission coming at the end of his anthology communicates Skryznecki’s reconciliation with his Polish Ukrainian identity and legacy, and his acceptance that he does belong.
He refuses to answer the “voices of red gables” in Poland, but he cannot ignore his spiritual connection to this place, “We will meet before you die.”
Combination of the first person and the second person address to the city of Warsaw –“I never knew you” –replicates natural speech -reinforced by the use of the dash to represent a reflective pause while Skryznecki gathers his thoughts, and the rhetorical questions that convey his uncertainty and frustration –“What’s my choice to be?”
Skryznecki employs apostrophe to directly address the old city of Warsaw as if it is a living being, “Warsaw, Old Town, I never knew you…” He proceeds to describe passionately through emotive verbs –“destroyed”, “massacred” and “exiled” –the terrible destruction that instigated the migration of his parents and others to Australia, taking them away from a home that they “cherish.”
His adamant denial of a connection builds in the second section, as he defiantly proclaims in the imperative voice “Let me be.” Even the use of the comma following the verb “repeat” in the line “I repeat, I never knew you” slows the pace of the line emphasising his rejection of Warsaw. This is reinforced in the final line in this section when he ends his rhetorical question with the disturbing, emotive noun “despair”.
The prophetic last four lines in section three of the poem signify that although Skryznecki denies emphatically the call of his birthplace and his cultural heritage, he will always be connected to Europe. This admission coming at the end of his anthology communicates Skryznecki’s reconciliation with his Polish Ukrainian identity and legacy, and his acceptance that he does belong.