Emma’s Blog

https://poetrysociety.org/poems-essays/in-their-own-words/aimee-nezhukumatathil-on-in-praise-of-my-manicure

The poem, “In Praise of My Manicure” by Aimee Nezhukumatathil shares that different heritages should be celebrated instead of feared and that people must rebel against the pressures to conform to society. Nezhukumatathil shares her personal experiences of wanting to blend in as a child to now wanting to “blend out”. There are numerous techniques Nezhukumatathil uses to convey this idea, but the greatest one is using Kathakali hand gestures as symbols. 

Kathakali is a traditional form of Indian classical dance with the purpose of telling and honoring stories. It features intricate makeup and headwear to draw attention to facial expressions and hand movements. There are 24 basic hand gestures used in Kathakali and Nezhukumatathil uses three: anjali, pallavam, and sarpasirassu. 

Anjali is used to show respect. Nezhukumatathil uses this gesture near the beginning of the poem before a shift, saying that she will be like “Kathakali dancers who shape their hands into a bit of hello with an anjali”. This gesture represents Nezhukumatathil when she was younger because she respected her teachers and peers and wanted to make them comfortable with her last name so she would laugh along trying to blend in out of respect. 

The next gesture used is pallavam. This gesture represents a sprout. This symbolizes Nezhukumatathil’s new beginning as she stops trying to blend in and starts blending out. The poem also shifts at this point with “I and my children and their children will hold four fingers up–a pallavam, a fresh sprout with no more shame”. These lines and the shift are significant because they mark a turning point for Nezhukumatathil. Her new beginning started when she had children and wanted to teach them not to laugh when people joke about her name. This makes her a sprout since she is just starting to blend out. 

The last hand gesture used is sarpasirassu, which represents a snake’s head. This is used towards the end of the poem as a way to strike down social norms by saying, “if the bright colors and glittered stars of my fingertips scare you, I will shape my fingers into sarpasirassu”. Some of the things snakes represent include rebirth, healing, and power. This suits Nezhukumatathil’s stance because she underwent a transformation and was reborn when she stopped blending in and started blending out, which likely contributes to healing since she is doing what her younger self did not have the confidence to do. This gesture also shows the power Nezhukumatathil holds when she refuses to laugh when people joke about her name. 

In addition to Kathakali hand gestures, Nezhukumatathil uses a manicure as an extended metaphor. She compares her bold manicure to her heritage. Both things are viewed as weird and something to be feared by some people because they are not typical for traditional society. The manicure shows that Nezhukumatathil rejects the social norms and embraces her culture instead of hiding and blending in. Additionally, getting a manicure is a form of self-love, similar to how she learned to love what makes her different. Her bold manicures can also be seen as Nezhukumatathil’s vessel for self-expression and rebellion and a reminder to not make herself uncomfortable so others are comfortable. 

The poem contains alliteration with “s” which contributes to sibilance. This is most noticeable in the lines, “a snake–sliding down my wrist and into each finger: just look at these colors so marvelous so fabulous”. The “s” creates a hissing sound, which amplifies the snake symbol since Nezhukumatathil, the speaker, is the one making the hissing sound, just like she is a snake and is ready to strike against societal norms. This also shows her growth throughout her life since she started out blending in but now is ready to blend out and embrace her heritage.

Tectonic Shift

The poem, “Tectonic Shift”, by Catherine Klatzker shares that people can be fragile and still struggle with mental health no matter how old, put together, or strong they may be. Klatzker sends this message by using a metaphor comparing physical development to natural objects. 

Klatzker compares a newborn to a dandelion by saying, “Downy, soft, fragile newborn skull, a dandelion waving on its slender stem”. The fragility of the head and how the head is unsupported by the rest of a newborn’s body is similar to a dandelion because dandelions are big in comparison to their stems, which makes the dandelions seem unsupported by the thin and flimsy stem. 

Later in the poem, Klatzker compares an adult to a redwood tree by saying, “Just when you’d think my dandelion would be a redwood”. This comparison shows that an adult is supposed to be stronger and stiffer than a newborn because redwood trees are strong and stiff. 

Klatzker relates this to mental health with her word choice. She specifically and repeatedly uses terms such as “skull”, “head”, cranium”, and “brain” to make the poem seem more about the development of someone’s mental health instead of physical development. This makes the dandelion metaphor relate more to the fragility of a newborn’s mind than the fragility of their body as a whole. Additionally, the redwood metaphor relates more to how adults are supposed to have strong mental health instead of being about strong physical development. 

Adding on to the redwood metaphor, Klatzker writes, “Just when you’d think my dandelion would be a redwood, my fontanel is soft, unexpectedly fragile”. By adding the part about her fontanel being fragile, Klatzer shares that she (and other adults) who are supposed to have strong mental health due to being grown up are actually as fragile as a child. Klatzker brings awareness to the mental health struggles of people of all ages through these lines by sharing that people who are supposed to be strong can still easily break. Additionally, Klatzker breaks the stigma of not talking about mental health or showing mental health struggles by sharing her own struggle and relating to readers who may also struggle with their mental health.

The title of the poem, “Tectonic Shift”, correlates with the dandelion and redwood metaphors because newborns have unjoined sutures that are fastened as they grow. However, Klatzker shares, “Some days I slip — my sutures slip and the parts that were so securely fastened inside, so integrated, peak out and speak”. In these lines, Klatzker gives sutures a figurative meaning versus the literal meaning used at the beginning of the poem. With the figurative meaning, the sutures and parts they were holding move similar to a tectonic shift from an earthquake. In relation to mental health, this means that Klatzker’s poor mental health overcomes what was keeping her together and slips out.

The poem’s shift contributes to the meaning of the title. The shift occurs around the lines, “Four arbitrarily named seams on the grid of a head guard the brain. Some days I slip–my sutures slip and the parts that were so securely fastened inside, so integrated, peek out and speak”. This is where the poem shifts from discussing the composition of a newborn and its development versus an adult brain to discussing Klatzker’s mental health battles. It also shifts from Klatzker talking about people, in general, to specifically talking about herself. This shift introduces the “Tectonic Shift” aspect of the poem, where Klatzker’s mental health issues slip out, and the overall meaning of the poem: anyone can struggle with mental health no matter how old or strong they may be.

Magnitude 7.1

“Magnitude 7.1” by Catherine Klatzker uses an extended metaphor that compares and earthquake to health. The poem starts this metaphor by describing actions that take place during earthquakes, such as searching “for your glasses, then your shoes”. The poem goes on to extend the earthquake concept by mentioning medial reports and medications, and reconsidering “their usefulness in the rubble of your life”. This compares the aftermath of an earthquake to the subject’ health, which supports that the poem is about health. 

I originally interpreted this poem as comparing an earthquake to a relationship that is cracked and torn apart, much like the Earth is after an earthquake. In this sense, the earthquake would be the event or subject that tore a relationship apart. In the poem, the metaphorical earthquake would be the health issues that one of the subjects is experiencing. I saw this in the lines, “just wanting us back the way we were before tests, procedures, and surgeries”. These lines make me think that the medical issues drove a wedge between two people, especially if they want to go back to the past before the medical issues started. Additionally, having surgeries and procedures is usually expensive, and expensive medical bills tend to make even the closest people distant, especially for people who cannot afford those bills. Essentially, health issues caused damage equivalent to an earthquake with a 7.1 magnitude and caused ground failure and faults long and wide enough to emotionally separate people. The use of “we”, “us”, and “you” tell me that this must be about a relationship because more than one person is involved. 

Throughout the poem, a yearning for chocolate is mentioned, seemingly at random throughout the parts about medical records. Chocolate represents sweetness, in flavor and romance. I take this to mean that throughout the health issues, the speaker longs for the times when they were still romantic and there was sweetness in the relationship. The desire for chocolate is almost an obsession and the speaker wants it more than water, which intrigued me because water is necessary for life and usually sells out quickly during earthquakes, whereas chocolate is more of a want than a need. I think this was included to emphasize how desperate the speaker wants to return to the better parts of the relationship. At the end of the poem, Klatzer writes, “Chocolate beckons: dark, semisweet, Swiss, chocolate pecan turtles, and fudgy toffee kisses”. The placement of this line is important because it emphasizes the desire for past happiness in the relationship and leaves the reader with that message. 

Additionally, I found it interesting that the medicine is a factor that seems to make the relationship worse, considering that medicine is usually given to make someone feel better when they are sick. 

This comparison of an earthquake to health can be interpreted in many different ways, one of which is Klatzker’s own mental health. In this case, the poem is written as if she is writing a letter to herself from an outside perspective, with the use of “your” and “us”. Klatzker continues this perspective by writing, “back the way we were before this earthquake of lurching past your body’s limits”. This particular line can be interpreted as Klatzker wishing her life would go back to before having mental health issues. 

The title, “Magnitude 7.1”, is significant because of the high magnitude of 7.1. The highest magnitude an earthquake has ever reached is 9.5, which is not far from a 7.1 magnitude earthquake. Any earthquake with a magnitude between 7.0 and 7.9 is classified as a major earthquake with serious damage. Thus, the metaphorical earthquake in the subject’s life is life-changing and causes extremely serious damage. 

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