- skirting boardnounChapter 1 →
A narrow strip of wood fixed along the bottom of an interior wall where it meets the floor, used here as the fixed starting point for the tape measure.
- spoolnounChapter 1 →
A cylindrical reel around which a length of tape or thread is wound; here it holds the tape measure that the speaker unrolls as he moves through the house.
“me with the spool of tape who reels / the years back.”
- reelsverbChapter 1 →
Pulls or winds back onto a reel; here used figuratively to suggest the speaker is drawing the past years back toward himself as he unspools the tape.
“me with the spool of tape who reels / the years back.”
- hatchnounChapter 1 →
A small hinged door or opening in a ceiling or roof, typically giving access to a loft or the outside; here it is the skylight the speaker pushes open at the top of the house.
“I reach / towards a hatch that opens on an endless sky / to fall or fly.”
- AnchornounChapter 1 →
Something or someone that holds a thing firmly in place and prevents it from drifting; here it describes the mother, who stays fixed at one end of the tape and keeps the speaker grounded.
“Anchor. Kite.”
- KitenounChapter 1 →
A light frame flown in the wind on a long string, always pulling upward and outward; here it describes the speaker, who is straining toward freedom while still tethered to his mother.
“Anchor. Kite.”
Mother, any distanceShort story by Simon Armitage