Saray Kay: If I Should Have A Daughter

I really like the way Sarah Kay performs this poem. She is very passionate about her poem, and that comes through with the way she performs it. Her tone is very strong, but there are some places where she contradicts herself, and her tone changes. This makes it feel more real, and helps add emphasis. I also really like the way she uses imagery. Her words paint pictures in your mind because they are specific. Like when she says "I'm going to pain the solar systems onto the backs of her hands, so that she has to learn the whole universe before she can say I know this like the back of my hand." This really creates a picture in your mind of her daughter with the solar systems on her hands and she is studying it. She uses her imagery to describe one idea, and then she will pause for a bit, then continue. I think the combination of imagery and pauses really helps you understand what she is saying, and emphasize when she is changing her topic so you are ready for it. She also mentions her mother in the poem. She talks about how this is the way her mother raised her, and that is way she wants to her raise her daughter. I think that this poem pays tribute to her mom for that.