Peter Skrzynecki Belonging Biography Peter Skrzynecki pronounced sherneski

Peter Skrzynecki Belonging

Biography Peter Skrzynecki (pronounced sher-neski was born 1945, Germany) WWII destruction Polish/Ukrainian background Emigrated to Australia in 1949 with his parents. After a four-week sea journey on the "General Blatchford" the family arrived in Sydney on 11 November. Lived in a migrant camp in Bathurst for two weeks before being moved on to the Parkes Migrant Centre, a former Air Force Training Base. It is this camp, in central-western New South Wales, that the poet regards as his first home in Australia. Migrant ship, the ‘General Blatchford’

1951 the family moved to Sydney, to the working-class suburb of Regents Park, where a home had been purchased at 10 Mary Street. Feliks Skrzynecki worked as a labourer for the Water Board and Kornelia as a domestic for a number of families in Strathfield. The parents worked hard and had the house paid off in four years. They grew their own vegetables and had a magnificent flower garden. Peter attended St Patrick's College, Strathfield, where he completed his Leaving Certificate in 1963. After an unsuccessful year at Sydney University in 1964, he completed a Primary Teacher Training Course at Sydney Teachers' College in 1965 -66. In 1968 he had recommenced his university studies as an external student and has a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and a Master of Letters.

Surprisingly, the poems that focus on family and the poems that observe people, primarily, stand out in this book, rather than specific accounts of the immigrant experience, although this theme is rarely absent from his work. From 1967 to 1987 Peter Skrzynecki taught in various primary public schools in the western suburbs of Sydney, in the inner-west and the south-west While at Sydney University, Peter Skrzynecki began writing poetry and was introduced to the work of such modern writers as Dylan Thomas, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, W. B. Yeats, T. S. Eliot, Wilfred Owen and D. H. Lawrence. He had his first poems published professionally in Poetry Magazine in 1967 and again in 1968. His work began to appear in the Weekend Australian, the ABC began broadcasting his poems on its "Poet's Tongue" programme and his work was included in the Australian Poetry 1969 anthology, Skrzynecki's first books, There, Behind the Lids and Headwaters, were published in 1970 and 1972 respectively These two collections, for the most, were concerned with the poet's experiences during the three years he taught in the country. They were reflective or meditative poems that dealt with the natural world, with the countryside, its people, its fauna and flora.

In 1975, Immigrant Chronicle is published. Traces of themes from the two earlier books. For the first time the poet writes about his European background, his experiences as a migrant in Australia, the problems associated with being an exile, with his parents' dispossession and the difficulties, such as racism, bigotry and resettlement, encountered by them and other immigrants in trying to assimilate to a new life in a new land. Skrzynecki mainly writes three kinds of poems, all in a similarly distinctive, almost prosaic style: • the family poem, in which he often displays a deft ability to portray character through description • the immigrant experience, which ranges between the new and old worlds and often has a documentary quality • and the landscape poem, which is often idyllic, with a poetic persona not that dissimilar to a Wordsworthian boy wandering and meditating in a garden or countryside.

Postscript Feliks Skrzynecki died in June, 1994. He was 89. Kornelia (Woloszczuk) died in February, 1997. She was 79. The house at 10 Mary Street, Regents Park, was sold later that year.

Today Peter Skrzynecki is that rare thing in Australia: a poet with a substantial readership. Sales of his autobiographical collection Immigrant Chronicle (1975) exceed 20, 000 copies according to his website, although many of these would be due to his good fortune at having had this volume included on the HSC list for many years. Peter Skrzynecki is married to Kate and has three children, Judith, Andrew and Anna.

Feliks Skrzynecki Emotive language Simile shows love of garden. Tone is humourous Descriptive language. Simile used My gentle father Kept pace only with the Joneses Of his own mind’s making – Loved his garden like an only child, Spent years walking its perimeter From sunrise to sleep. Alert, brisk and silent, He swept its paths Ten times around the world. Hands darkened From cement, fingers with cracks Like the sods he broke, I often wondered how he existed On five or six hours’ sleep each night – Why his arms didn’t fall off From the soil he turned And tobacco he rolled. Cliché used to show his father living up to high standards hyperbole Hyperbole and humour used

The poet can not relate to his polish heritage His Polish friends The poet’s father is Always shook hands too violently, nostalgic about his I thought… Feliks Skrzynecki, past. Such skills are of That formal address no use in his current A historical allusion I never got used to. life. His fellow is used to show the Talking, they reminisced countrymen make him trauma his father About farms where paddocks feel a sense of went through. flowered belonging. Despite this With corn and wheat, difficult time is Horses they bred, pigs father is not They were skilled in slaughtering. hardened. Visual and descriptive Five years of forced labour in language is used Germany Did not dull the softness of his blue eyes Personal pronouns are used to reinforce the personal nature of this poem I never once heard Him complain of work, the weather Or pain. When twice They dug cancer out of his foot, His comment was: ‘but I’m alive’. The poet’s admiration for the stoic nature of his father is shown. This brave quotation provides clear evidence of how brave he is

Most of his knowledge of the Polish language is gone yet he has inherited parts of his cultural without realising it. The poet’s father has a level of contentment that the poet envies Personal pronoun Growing older, I Remember words he taught me, Remnants of a language I inherited unknowingly – The curse that damned The quotation A crew-cut, grey-haired shos the Department clerk ignorance that Who asked me in dancing-bear exists in society grunts: and the struggle ‘Did your father ever attempt to learn associated with English? ’ belonging. It also shows the On the back steps of his house, poet’s respect Bordered by golden cypress, for his father Lawns – geraniums younger Than both parents, My father sits out the evening With his dog, smoking, Watching stars and street lights come on, Happy as I have never been.

Feliks struggles to help his son retain his culture At thirteen, Stumbling over tenses in Caesar’s Gallic War, I forgot my first Polish word. He repeated it so I never forgot. After that, like a dumb prophet, Watched me pegging my tents Further and further south of Hadrian’s Wall. Biblical/religious allusion As the poet learns a new language he loses his grasp of the polish language Hadrian’s Wall is a dividing wall in England. The tent represents the immigration of the family

n. Reflective poem on a father deeply loved and respected and the changing relationship they shared n. Conflict is generated between the two as a result of the persona further becoming further embedded in Australian culture. n. Information on Feliks is provided by the poet’s memory and reminiscences. The impact on Feliks’ experiences is as a strong for the son as it is for the father. n. The persona recognises in maturity that his father understood the gap that existed between them n. Feliks felt that his son would come to comprehend the value of his Polish heritage despite his initial dislocation from it

Feliks Skrzynecki Stanza 1…explain Peter’s p. o. v of his father, the garden and himself, include positives and negatives and how his understanding developed and changed over time. Stanza 3…through the use of imagery, peter depicts a world that intrigued him but alienated him at the same time. Explain how and why this is a passage of time that he will never belong to… Connections through relationships can develop over time. Explain how this aspect has been explored through the poem.

Feliks Skrzynecki

Kept pace only with the Joneses Of his own mind’s making – Social and physical environments are usually determining factors in providing a sense of identity or connectedness, yet some individuals may seal themselves off in a metaphorical vacuum, finding solace in their memories of the past. The composer establishes this characteristic in ‘Feliks Skrzynecki, ’ suggesting his father is ignoring the social pressures of conformity, exemplified in the idiomatic statement‘kept pace only with the Joneses…’ His determination to find his own sense of self is reinforced through the alliterative ‘minds making’ and the caesura that strikingly segregates Feliks through the structure of the poem itself and identifies him as a character who has found comfort without the need for broader social inclusion.

I often wondered how he existed The different perspectives and assumptions about our place in the world, and our sense of identity can often cause a dislocation between individuals who foster these divergent views. The composer elucidates this sense of bewilderment through enjambment “I often wondered how he existed…” The responder naturally lingers on this key word ‘existed’ and we gain a sense of the existential musings and confusion that abounds between father and son. The inquisitive, childlike tone questioning notions of his identity, and how his father seems to benignly struggle through life seem completely foreign and alien to the composer. This further accentuates the generational divisions that exist when acclimatising within a new physical and social environment.

Always shook hands too violently How different groups affiliate and form their collective identity varies. It is these associations that can enrich an individual’s life and create a sense of belonging. These traditions and shared practices may be completely foreign to those on the outside. The composer conveys this feeling through the paradox “Always shook hands too violently”. The collision of the handshake, a symbol of camaraderie, and the incongruous description of it’s violence, perplexes the composer as he struggles to decode these strange interactions between his elders. This generational split leads to feelings of alienation and an emotional chasm between father and son, at a time when both are trying to find their sense of belonging within Australia.

About farms where paddocks flowered With corn and wheat, When an individual finds themself in a new, adoptive environment, they may mentally regress to a place of sanctuary. Feliks Skrzynecki reminiscing with his old friends allows this group to transcend the physical barriers of their current milieu to return to their homeland. The simple imagery in “About farms where paddocks flowered, With corn and wheat”, represents their uncomplicated lives and sense of belonging to their homeland. The symbols ‘corn’ and ‘wheat’, simple, staple food, further demonstrate the oneness Feliks and his friends have to this natural environment - and provides a barrier from assimilating to life in Australia in the same way the Peter has embraced.

‘but I’m alive’ In an ever changing, contemporary world the desire to be more and more connected through different spheres of our lives is endemic. Young people are more connected than ever, and this may be at odds with a generation of their forebears who appreciated simple gifts during the World Wars, such as food, shelter and life itself. The inclusion of dialogue by Feliks Skrzynecki comes in the form of a short, simplistic declaration “but I’m alive”, which encapsulates the resilience of his character. In the face of adversity, cancer and Nazi concentration camps his own sense of identity and self efficacy has been unshaken. This is heavily contrasted to the composer, who is searching through the recesses of his own experiences and relationships to unveil who he is and his place in the world.

Feliks Skrzynecki My Gentle Father Personal Pronoun and familial personal descriptive ‘gentle. ’ suggests affection. Kept pace only with the Joneses Free from stigma Of his own mind’s making – Joneses/Society Loved his garden like an only child, Simile/hyperbole Spent years walking its perimeter From sunrise to sleep. Sibilance Alert, brisk and silent, Sibilance He swept its paths The use of hyperbole at Ten times around the world. the end of stanza one links to Immigrant Experience.

Feliks Skrzynecki Vivid memories of a father from Hands darkened the perspective of an awed child. From cement, fingers with cracks Simile Like the sods he broke, Reminder that the immigrant experience is one of first and second generation. I often wondered how he existed Personal Pronoun Hyperbole On five or six hours’ sleep each night – There is the strong suggestion of a cultural Why his arms didn’t fall off and generational divide. From the soil he turned Task: Find an example of a text with an immigrant experience And tobacco he rolled. that mirrors this one. You should find something to show the difference and dissonance between first and second generations.

Feliks Skrzynecki Cultural Exclusivity His Polish friends Always shook hands too violently I thought … Feliks Skrzynecki, Generation al Alienation That formal address Ellipsis to create stream of consciousness I never got used to. Talking, they reminisced About farms where paddocks flowered With corn and wheat, Horses they bred, pigs Historical They were skilled in slaughtering. Context Five years of forced labour in Germany Link to ‘Gentle. ’ Did not dull the softness of his blue eyes. Note: the use of enjambment throughout the poem. Suggest the effect of the use of enjambment in lines 9 -10.

Feliks Skrzynecki Stoicism I never once heard Him complain of work, the weather Or pain, When twice They dug cancer out of his foot, His comment was: “but I’m alive. ” Immediacy through speech Note: The tone of admiration in this stanza. Where else do we see this tone of admiration. You may also notice that whilst there is the suggestion of respect and affection this leaves the persona excluded from the father’s experiences and in a way incidentally and accidentally alienated from the father’s world. Task: List all incidents like this in the text.

Feliks Skrzynecki Growing older, I Remember words he taught me, Remnants of a language I inherited unknowingly – The curse that damned Return of Personal pronoun Memories and legacy – suggestion of loss and lament. Emotive alienation through ‘curse. ’ A crew-cut, grey-haired Satirical representation Department clerk of an unwelcoming society. Bureaucracy is Who asked me in dancing-bear grunts: scorned here. “Did your father ever attempt to learn English? ” Task: What is the effect of direct speech at the end of this stanza?

Feliks Skrzynecki Cyclical return to home On the back steps of his house, Bordered by golden cypress, Note: the existence outside Australian society. Shunning of policy of assimilation Lawns – geraniums younger Than both parents My father sits out the evening With his dog, smoking, Watching stars and street lights come on, Happy as I have never been. Task: What does this last line connote about the conflict between the migrant experience of first and second generation migrants?

Feliks Skrzynecki School education ‘kicks in’ and affects the ability to connect with his parents language. At thirteen Feliks corrects the Stumbling over tenses in Caesar’s Gallic War, persona at first I forgot my first Polish word. and then eventually He repeated it so I never forgot. concedes defeat. After that, like a dumb prophet, Watched me pegging my tents Further and further south of Hadrian’s Wall: This is a reference to the wall built on the English and Scottish border by the Roman Emperor Hadrian. This is used as a metaphor by skrzynecki to suggest the alienation of the son from the father as he becomes more embroiled in the dominant culture and forgets his parent’s heritage.

Questions 1. There are emotions conveyed regarding the immigrant experience throughout this poem. How are they conveyed by the author to encompass both the experience of Feliks and his son? 2. How does this experience convey a sense of the concept of ‘immigrant voices’? 3. How does the use of non-native plants such as cyprus and geraniums metaphorically convey a sense of the migrant experience?

Read, discuss for meaning, analyse Migrant Hostel Parkes, 1949 -51 No one kept count Of all the comings and goings— Arrivals of newcomers In busloads from the station, Sudden departures from adjoining blocks That left us wondering Who would be coming next. Nationalities sought Each other out instinctively — Like a homing pigeon Circling to get its bearings; Years and name-places Recognised by accents, For over two years We lived like birds of passage — Always sensing a change in the weather: Unaware of the season Whose track we would follow. A barrier at the main gate Sealed off the highway from our doorstep— As it rose and fell like a finger Pointed in reprimand or shame; And daily we passed Underneath or alongside it— Needing its sanction To pass in and out of lives

The title sets the scene. The date is just after the end of WWII The use of ‘us’ adds a personal note. The tone is uncertain The simile is used to show the immigrants are uncertain and unsettled in their new country. The migrants are depicted as being temporarily lost The word migrant was used in the title and the sheer number of people moving through the hostel reinforces the instability. Hyperbole is used Migrant Hostel. Parkes, 1949 -51 No one kept count Of all the comings and goings – Arrivals of newcomers In busloads from the station, Sudden departures from adjoining blocks That left us wondering Who would be coming next. Nationalities sought Each other out instinctively – Like a homing pigeon Circling to get its bearings; Years and place-names Recognised by accents, Partitioned off at night By memories of hunger and hate. Trying to find a sense of belonging Historical allusion to war. May be a metaphor. Refers to conflicts from the past and also references the very real fear that would be felt.

The bird motif continues. The tone is emotive and reinforces instability The boom gate is personified. This also serves as visual imagery. The language is emotive For over two years We lived like birds of passage – Always sensing a change In the weather: Unaware of the season Whose track we would follow. A barrier at the main gate Sealed off the highway From our doorstep – As it rose and fell like a finger Pointed in reprimand or shame; And daily we passed Underneath or alongside it – Needing its sanction To pass in and out of lives That had only begun Or were dying. Simile comparing the immigrants to birds is used again. Emotive language is used to make reference to the uncertainty and the fact that the immigrants old lifestyle is being left behind and being replaced with a new life in Australia.

Analysis of Migrant Hostel Composer: Peter Skrzynecki Source: The Immigrant Chronicles, Parkes, 1949 -51 Context: Migrant hostels, like the ones described in this poem, were old army camps with dormitory-style accommodation. Men and women were not housed together. The migrants Skrzynecki depicts in this poem are those who came to Australia after WWII at the invitation of the government. These migrants where segregated and isolated from the rest of the population even though they were actually invited to come to Australia. These immigrants where helping Australia to recover after the war but were treated appallingly. RELATE TO YOUR OWN micro/MACRO WORLD CONTEXT: Brainstorm how the context of the poem is still relevant today. Who migrates? Where do they go? How are they received? Key features/techniques: Four stanzas Imagery Irony Simile Symbolism Metaphorical motifs imprisonment and segregation/migratory birds Juxtaposition hope is contrasted with fear

Migrant Hostel The persona reminisces about the two years his family spent at the Parkes hostel for newly arrived migrants. The immigrants are forced to spend this time in Parkes as a transition into Australian society. The poet conveys the immigrants’ sense of isolation and dislocation during this time. The promise of new life is not quickly realised and there is a sense of enforced imprisonment at the hands of an unsympathetic bureaucracy.

Some important concepts to remember: The inhabitants of the hostel come and go but no one seems to have control or to have achieved a place to belong. The immigrants continue to be haunted by their recent experiences that impact upon their ability to belong. The barrier at the main gate symbolises isolation from the outside world and acts as a barrier to belonging. The family question whether they will achieve belonging in their lives. The immigrants congregate in nationality groups to provide mutual support and to create a transitory sense of belonging.

Migrant Hostel – analysis continued Quotation Technique Effect and connection to IV ‘No one kept count/of all the comings and goings-’ ‘Sudden departures. . . /That left us wondering’ Idiom , negative or neglected tone Chaotic, erratic and uncertain tone Suggests chaos and lack of administration ‘Like a homing pigeon/circling to get bearings’ ‘We lived like birds of passage/Always sensing a change’ Bird motif, simile The migrants are trying to find something familiar No preparations made to assist the migrants to feel as if they belong. They were left without a voice Bird motif, reference Simile suggests they will be moving often. to temporary migrant workers, simile Metaphor Sealed off from Australia and the chance to belong with society ‘A barrier. . . /sealed off the highway’ ‘As it rose and fell like a Simile, accusatory finger/Pointed in reprimand or tone shame’ ‘Needing its sanction/to pass in Sibilance, irony and out of lives/That had only begun/Or were dying’ Figurative language refers to negative treatment – invited to migrate. Patronising bureaucracy that control their existence

Questions 1. How does the first stanza create a sense of the instability and insecurity of the migrants? 2. Whose perspective is this poem from? How does this change the way that the migrants’ emotions are experienced? 3. Why would people from the same nationality seek “each other out instinctively”? What does this suggest about humans’ need for belonging? 4. What is the effect of the simile, “like a homing pigeon/ Circling to get its bearings”? 5. Even in a new country, groups separate themselves at night. What technique(s) are used to create a sense of their alienation from each other? 6. What is the effect of the simile, “like birds of passage”? What does it suggest about their existence and identity? 7. What did the barrier at the gate signal to the migrants about Australians’ acceptance of them? What is the effect of the simile, “rose and fell like a finger pointed in reprimand or shame”?

8. What are the connotations of the words “partitioned”, “barrier” and “sealed off”? What do these words suggest about the migrants’ sense of belonging? 9. What is the effect of the last two lines? What do these lines mean? 10. Comment on the migrants’ perceptions of the extent of their belonging in Australian society, and the barriers to their belonging

St Patrick’s College Impressed by the uniforms Of her employer’s sons, Mother enrolled me at St Pat’s With never a thought To fees and expenses – wanting only “What was best”. From the roof Of the secondary school block Our Lady watched With outstretched arms, Her face overshadowed by clouds Mother crossed herself As she left me at the office – Said a prayer For my future intentions. Under the principal’s window I stuck pine needles Into the motto On my breast: Luceat Lux Vestra I thought was a brand of soap. For eight years I walked Strathfield’s paths and streets, Played chasings up and down The station’s ten ramps – Caught the 414 bus Like a foreign tourist, Uncertain of my destination Every time I got off. For eight years I carried the blue, black and gold I’d been privileged to wear: Learnt my conjugations And Christian decorums for homework, Was never too bright at science But good at spelling’ Could say The Lord’s Prayer In Latin, all in one breath. My last day there Mass was offered up For our departing intentions, Our Lady still watching Above, unchanged by eight years’ weather. With closed eyes I fervently counted The seventy-eight pages Of my Venite Adoremus, Saw equations I never understood Rubbed off the blackboard, Voices at bus stops, litanies and hymns Taking the right-hand turn Out of Edgar Street for good; Prayed that Mother would someday be pleased With what she got for her money – That the darkness around me Wasn’t ‘for the best’ Before I let my light shine.

His mother’s reason for sending him seems superficial yet well intentioned. Reinforces his mother’s good intentions and hopes for his future Shows immaturity and a lack of respect for the school crest St Patrick’s College Impressed by the uniforms Of her employer's sons, Mother enrolled me at St Pat’s, With never a thought To fees and expenses ‐ wanting only “What was best”. From the roof Of the secondary school block. Our Lady watched With outstretched arms, Her face overshadowed by clouds Mother crossed herself As she left me at the office ‐ Said a prayer For my future intentions. Under the principal's window I stuck pine needles Into the motto On my breast: Luceat Lux Vestra I thought was a brand of soap. Colloquial Religious reference to Mary the mother of Christ. The shadow has negative connotations Let you light shine. This motto has no meaning to the poet at this point

He caught a bus & a train just to get to school. Irony is also used. Repetition of the time Humour is used. The poet doesn’t feel like he has much to show from his time at the school For eight years I walked Strathfield's paths and streets, Played chasings up and down The station's ten ramps ‐ Caught the 414 bus "Like a foreign tourist” Uncertain of my destination Every time I got off. For eight years I carried the blue, black and gold I'd been privileged to wear Learnt my conjugations And Christian decorums for homework, Was never too bright at science But good at spelling; Could say The Lord's Prayer In Latin, all in one breath. Simile shows that he never felt like he belonged The tone is sarcastic

Everything seems to pass in a blur My last day there Mass was offered up For our departing intentions, Our Lady still watching Above, unchanged by eight years weather With closed eyes I fervently counted‐ The seventy‐eight pages Of my Venite Adoremus, Saw equations I never understood Rubbed off the blackboard, Voices at bus stops, litanies and hymns Taking the right‐hand turn Out of Edgar Street for good; Prayed that Mother would someday be pleased With what she'd got for her money ‐ That the darkness around me Wasn't "for the best" Before I let my light shine This links back to the 1 st satnza of the poem. Note that Mary remains unchanged This also links to the previous stanza. The tone is quite dark. The school motto is mocked.

St Patrick’s College The College's crest was designed in 1938 and is made up of three components: The Shield: a symbol of strength and fortitude. The Motto: Those who wear the crest pledge fidelity to the College motto 'Luceat Lux Vestra', Latin for "Let Your Light Shine". The Star: the College lights the way to knowledge and to the Heavenly Father. The school has a strong sporting focus. Consider: What do school traditions, values and the motto ’Christ is my light” mean to you? How will you remember your school days?

St Patrick’s College Analysis A reflective appraisal – with the benefit of hindsight and experience. Overall tone is condemnatory, hints at institutional alienation rather than imbuing school spirit or inclusion No reference to positive growth or learning. Catholicism referenced by statues, prayers, ethos and Mass but no real affinity inferred by such ‘decorums’. Large part of childhood spent there (repetition of 8 years) but no reference to period being enjoyable. Anonymity dominates – symbolises few meaningful connections poet has made. Overall perception is drudgery and uniformity – a penance to be endured. Conformity to strict educational codes has appeared to stultify poet’s individuality.

His mother’s reason for sending him seems superficial yet well intentioned. Reinforces his mother’s good intentions and hopes for his future Shows immaturity and a lack of respect for the school crest St Patrick’s College Impressed by the uniforms Of her employer's sons, Mother enrolled me at St Pat’s, With never a thought To fees and expenses ‐ wanting only “What was best”. From the roof Of the secondary school block. Our Lady watched With outstretched arms, Her face overshadowed by clouds Mother crossed herself As she left me at the office ‐ Said a prayer For my future intentions. Under the principal's window I stuck pine needles Into the motto On my breast: Luceat Lux Vestra I thought was a brand of soap. Colloquial Religious reference to Mary the mother of Christ. The shadow has negative connotations Let you light shine. This motto has no meaning to the poet at this point

St Patrick’s College analysis Quote ‘impressed by the uniforms/Of her employer’s sons’ ‘with never a thought to fees and expenses’ Technique Effect – how it relates to belonging/not belonging Mother does not base her decision on tradition or belonging but a desire for betterment. Desire to belong determining factor not money. ‘-wanting only what was best’ ‘From the roof. . . /Our Lady watched. . . her face overshadowed by clouds’ Ominous – as if statue suggests he will not be welcomed at this school. ‘Mother crossed herself’ ‘I stuck pine needles/Into the motto’ Poet’s disengagement with school or sense of rebelliousness “‘Luceat Lux Vestra’/I thought was a brand of soap” ‘For eight years/I walked Strathfield’s Tone suggests ritual and lacks

St Patrick’s College Analysis continued. . Quote St Patrick’s analysis continued. . . ‘Like a foreign tourist/Uncertain of my destination. ’ ‘For eight years/I carried the blue, black and gold’ ‘I’d been privileged to wear’ Technique Effect – how it relates to belonging/not belonging Assimilation into this school is a burden he must carry. ‘Could say the Lord’s Prayer/In Latin, all in one breath ‘Our Lady still watching. . . /With closed eyes’ No sense of connection to what he has learnt. ‘Out of Edgar street for good; ’ Relief at leaving place poet did not belong. ‘Prayed that someday Mother would be pleased’ “The darkness around me/Wasn’t ‘for the best’” ‘Before I let my light shine’ Realises his mother has not achieved her aims. Poet is figuratively excluded by her ‘closed eyes’ Darkness represents his sense of isolation and exclusion He has succeeded in spite of school

Further Activities for St Patricks College: How has the poet achieved a sense of belonging and isolation? Use textual evidence to support your answer. What do the mother’s reasons for sending her son to St Patrick’s College suggest about her desire to assimilate? It is possible to fit in without belonging. Use this statement as the basis for an interview with Peter Skrzynecki. Write a transcript of this interview with specific reference to St Patrick’s College.