in this poem at the start they scream gone as they are experiencing huge amounts of grief as a child just died.

phrase: the flesh melted from his bones

the phrase is used in the poem to show the sadness about their lifeless body and how they know he will never come back

sentence: Red ribbons I left on his tomb.

this shows that they are experiencing grief and wanting to give him something before he was buried. This shows how they badly want him back and will do something to remember him.

general analysis

this poem is about a young child dying and the families grief about it and then their journey to bury him properly by going through the blue mountains at sunset to bury him to bury his body and giving him a ribbon to remember him by

in this poem it is about a riot happening in a town/city, the people the poem is talking about are hiding out after a curfew in a house.

phrase: we stopped smelling the buttered beetroot

in the poem they hide out in a house before the violence it was probably a nice smelling neighborhood with people cooking with windows open but after the violence people stopped being cheerful and taking time to make something good.

sentence: Hours, maybe even days,

went by as we hid waiting for attacks and looting

to end

This sentence from the poem shows that they are hiding and waiting for the violence and people stealing things from the battlefield and not caring for anyone but themselves. It also shows the fear they are feeling as if someone found them they may kill them or steal all their belongings.

general analysis

the poem the riots talks about the fear and violence that is ravaging the place that these people are living in. there are people stealing people getting shot and people who are just fighting to survive hiding in a house while people are battling outside.

the colour yellow is all about the sun and moon and stars this relates to the poem as in the poem the stars and sun are where you are born and the stories of where the animals and tribes came from. it is also a happy colour and this poem is quite happy as it remembers all the stories of creation.

symbol: the earth

this poem talks about how the earth has been created and how we need to remember all the things. it also talks about how we are part of the earth ie black people are dark earth.

sound: someone talking

this sound relates to the poem as it is a person talking to people about the stories of creation and teaching the young people about how the world was created.

the colour white is commonly associated with heaven which is a big theme in the poem. it also talks about freedom of speech and white shows freedom and peace.

symbol: a wall

this poem is about the great wall of china and it is talking about freedom of speech. it is using the wall as a metaphor to peoples own beliefs and selves.

sound: a chant

the poem sounds like a chant about the wall. it says even a thousand times repeately and same with is nothing. a chant is also holding hope in trying times like your identity being taken away in this poem.