Christmas 1970
By Sandra M. Castillo
We assemble the silver tree,
our translated lives,
its luminous branches,
numbered to fit into its body.
place its metallic roots
to decorate our first Christmas.
Mother finds herself
opening, closing the Red Cross box
she will carry into 1976
like an unwanted door prize,
a timepiece, a stubborn fact,
an emblem of exile measuring our days,
marked by the moment of our departure,
our lives no longer arranged.Somewhere,
there is a photograph,
a Polaroid Mother cannot remember was ever taken:
I am sitting under Tia Tere’s Christmas tree,
her first apartment in this, our new world:
my sisters by my side,
I wear a white dress, black boots,
an eight-year-old’s resignation;
Mae and Mitzy, age four,
wear red and white snowflake sweaters and identical smiles,
on this, our first Christmas,
away from ourselves.The future unreal, unmade,
Mother will cry into the new year
with Lidia and Emerito,
our elderly downstairs neighbors,
who realize what we are too young to understand:
Even a map cannot show you
the way back to a place
that no longer exists.
Summary of Christmas 1970
- Popularity of “Christmas 1970”: The poem ‘Christmas 1970’ was written by Sandra M. Castillo, a Cuban-born American poet. This beautiful poem is about childhood recollections of Christmas. It was written in 2002 and published with her collection, My Father Sings, to My Embarrassment. Although the poem seems an innocent expression of the childhood festivities celebrated at religious festivals, it shows the mother-daughter relationship and loss of innocence of childhood in which the “future” seems unreal.
- “Christmas 1970” As a Representative of Childhood Memories and Migration: The poet recalls the memories of their first Christmas celebration with Red Cross gifts in 1970 when they decided to migrate to the United States after the situation got worse in Cuba. The fact that they were in exile, and their lives were topsy-turvy in Miami, Florida. She has a Polaroid photo of that Christmas that her mother does not remember, but she remembers it clearly with the Tia Tere Christmas tree. The poem pictures her sister standing with her in that photo with white and red sweaters and smiles on their faces. However, when they shift to a new apartment, their neighbors, two girls, come to know their Cuban heritage and their different language. They also come to know that they are from a homeland that is no more their homeland, and this makes the poet feel pangs of nostalgia.
- Major Themes in “Christmas 1970”: Childhood memories, loss of one’s homeland, and childhood innocence are three major thematic strands of this poem. Castillo clearly reminds the readers how the Christmas of 1970 proves different for them when they have had to leave their country to arrive where even neighbors know they have a different identity and different language. She has a picture of that period in which she clearly identifies herself as well as her sister standing side by side and smiling. Yet, those memories are afresh in her mind, reminding her of the difference of that Christmas of 1970.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Christmas 1970
literary devices are essential for poetic or prose writing. The analysis of these devices in the poem is given below.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /o/ in “opening, closing the Red Cross box”, the sound of /a/ in “our translated lives” and the sound of /i/ in “We assemble the silver tree.”
- Alliteration: It is the use of successive consonant sounds in the initials of the successive words, such as the sound of /t/ in “Tia Tere”, the sound of /b/ in “black boots”, and the sound of /s/ in “snowflake sweaters.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sounds of /t/ and /r/ in “marked by the moment of our departure”, the sounds of /d/, /s/, and /r/ in “wear red and white snowflake sweaters and identical smiles” and the sounds of /t/ and /r/ in “who realize what we are too young to understand.”
- Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;
Even a map cannot show you
the way back to a place
that no longer exists.
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. The poem shows the use of imagery such as “its luminous branches”, “an emblem of exile measuring our days” and “wear red and white snowflake sweaters and identical smiles.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between the objects that are different. The poem shows the use of metaphors lives have been compared to books and a timepiece to a stubborn fact.
- Personification: The poet has personified the timepiece as if it has its own emotions and life.
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from literal meanings. The poem shows the use of the symbols of Christmas, the Red Cross, prize, and land to show the nostalgia for migration and homeland.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Christmas 1970
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction and Tone: The poem has figurative, poetic diction and a serious tone.
- Free Verse: The poem does not follow any fixed rhyming pattern. Therefore, “Christmas 1970” is a free-verse poem.
- Stanza: A stanza has some lines having a rhyming pattern or free verses. This poem has three stanzas, with each having a different number of verses. However, they do not follow any rhyme scheme.
Quotes to be Used
These lines from ‘Christmas 1970’ are relevant to use when talking about migration and its difficulties.
our elderly downstairs neighbors,
who realize what we are too young to understand:
Even a map cannot show you
the way back to a place
that no longer exists.
