Kindness

Food elements are used as a recurring motif throughout the poem, as both literal images and figurative devices. In the first stanza, the speaker describes the future as “salt in a weakened broth” (Line 4), using the image to communicate the insubstantial nature of a certain future as well as to enhance the overall setting. The sense of place within the poem is one of struggle, and the image of a weakened broth as a food source adds dimension to the world the speaker is immersed in. Toward the end of the first stanza, the speaker describes the food around them: “the passengers eating maize and chicken” (Line 12). The specificity brings the setting to life and enhances the cultural tone of the poem.

In the third stanza, the speaker revisits food in a distant and figurative way as the speaker imagines the guiding influence that kindness can have: “only kindness that ties your shoes / and sends you out into the day to gaze at bread” (Lines 28-29). The poem does not specify eating or purchasing bread, but rather “gazing” at it. Here, food becomes a focal point for the people surrounding the speaker.