1) The poem describes a photograph of the persona's grandmother when the persona was three years old. In the photo, the grandmother appears tall, poised, and unafraid of death. 2) Over time, the grandmother grew old and frail, with a hunched back and dementia. She eventually died, going to an "awful place" that was unknown to the persona as a child. 3) Despite watching her grandmother age and pass away, the persona remembers her fondly from the photograph and feels she is still alive in spirit through the good memories.

1. The LivingPhotograph
My small grandmotheristall there,
straight-back,whitebroderieanglaiseshirt,
pleated skirt, flat shoes,grey bun,
a kind,old smile round her eyes.
Her big hand holdsmine,
white hand in black hand.
Her sharp blue eyes lookher own deathin the eye.
In the photograph,the persona'ssupposedly"small'grandmotheris"tall'. Herhunchedbackgrandma
(hence the word"small") wasstill youthful and"straight-back"andsoshe looks"tall"inthe
photo. "Straight-back"couldalsosignifyshe waspoisedandcomposed. She iswearinga"white
broderie anglaiseshirt"anda "pleatedskirt"whichshowsshe wasawomanof class,upperor middle.
She was a kindand lovingperson"kind,oldsmile..."andshe acceptedandlovedthe persona
unconditionally - "Herbighandholdsmine,white handinblackhand". See Jackie Kayishalf Scottish,
half Nigerian,andshe wasadoptedbya Scottishfamily. The personacouldbe Ms Kayherself,ora
character that she wantsto portray as biracial,hence the "white handinblackhand".
The persona'sgrandma wasa fiercelybrave person,apersonwhowasn'tafraidof death - "Her sharp
blue eyeslookherowndeathinthe eye."
Note that her*spoiler*grandmaisdead,and yetshe referstoher inpresenttense. Thisshowsthatshe
isalive inherheart,and that the state of hergrandma inthe photoishow she wants to rememberher.
It wastrue afterall; thatlook.
My tall grandmotherbecamesmall.
Her back round and hunched.
Her soup forgotto boil.
She wentto theawfulplace grandmothersgo.
Somewhereunknown,unthinkable.
However,the persona'sgrandmadidn'tstaylike thatinthe photo. She started to grow olderand
developahunchback. Dementiasetin - "Her soupforgotto boil".Andinthe end,she died - "She went
to the awful place grandmothersgo." Asa kid,the personadidn'tunderstandwhatthatplace was,it

2. was just"unknown"and"unthinkable".
Note that inthisstanza,the personareferstohergrandmain past tense whendescribing heractual
state before dying. Asthe grandmais describedinpasttense,thisalsoshowsthatthe personaisover
the tragedy;and that thissmall,hunchedbacksenilewomanthatwashergrandma isnow dead.
But there sheis still,
in the photo withme at three,
the crinkled smile is still living,breathing.
Nonetheless,despite watchinghergrandmagrowingoldanddie,the memoryof herstill liveson. The
personadoesn'twantto rememberhergrandmaasold andsenile,butshe wantstorememberheras
howshe was inthe photowithherwhenshe wasthree yearsold - poised,lovingandfierce. She will
alwaysbe alive inherheartand the good memorieswill live on,notedbythe use of presenttense once
again.
Two themesare clearlyseenhere. One, itisthe positive image people create inremembrance of a
departedperson. The personawantstorememberhergrandmaas how she was inthe photo,not the
daysbefore she died. Whenourlovedonesdie,we nolongersee the uglyside of aperson,whether
theirphysical appearance before dying(aging,diseased,badplasticsurgery),theirhorrible attitude (was
a bitch/dick) orbad habits(substance abuse). We will rememberthemintheirprime age,the great
thingsaboutthemand theircontributiontosociety. Lookathow all those hated,heavilycriticiseddrug
abusing,trash-talking,plasticsurgery-lovingcelebritiesare beingreveredandpaidhomage toonlywhen
indeath. We forgetand forgive all theirshortcomings,unfortunately,onlywhentheydie.
Anothertheme isthe copingwithgrief andloss. Andone wayto cope withgrief andlossis to hangon
to the good memoriesof aperson,insteadof rememberingthe painfulwayhe orshe died. The persona
whowas struck withgrief bythe lossof her grandmafounda way to cope withit - whichisto keepitin
herheart that althoughhergrandmais notwithheranymore physically,she isstillaliveinher
heart. This isprobablythe bestwayto deal withloss,bytellingourselvesthateventhoughthatperson
isnot withus anymore,he orshe will alwaysbe withusinspirit. Believinginitbringscomfortand
closure.