Birdshooting season the men

make marriages with their guns

My father’s house turns macho

as from far the hunters gather

All night long contentless women

stir their brews: hot coffee

chocolata, cerassie

wrap pone and tie-leaf

for tomorrow’s sport. Tonight

the men drink white rum neat.

In darkness shouldering

their packs, their guns, they leave

We stand quietly on the

doorstep shivering. Little boys

longing to grow up birdhunters too

Little girls whispering:

Fly Birds Fly.

Summary

The persona describes the start of the bird shooting season. Men come together from far and near to the persona’s house. The presence of these men in the home adds an atmosphere of manliness and fearlessness. Both the men and women prepare for the season in different ways and the child persona describes this. The women prepare tea and coffee for the hunters. They make food as well as the men need these provisions for the seasonal exodus. The persona notes that there is no thanks or acknowledgement.

The little boys dream of becoming bird hunters like their fathers, and the little girls show more compassion as they encourage the bids to fly away. This suggests that the girls hoped too that they could also escape the fearsome grasp of the bird hunting men and the resulting cycle.

Themes:

Women in the society

Gender roles,

Culture and Cultural experiences

Nature and

Childhood experiences

Mood

Reflective

Nostalgic

Analysis

“Birdshooting season the men make marriages with their guns”

The persona begins with the phrase ‘bird shooting season,’ thereby communicating communicating an annual period where men go out and shoot birds. The poet uses a

combination of alliteration and metaphor in “men make marriages with their guns.” The repetition of the deep, manly ‘m’ sound sets up birdshooting season as a time meant mostly men to enjoy themselves while they display their male talent. The metaphor ‘make marriages with their guns’ shows the care and attention they give to their guns, as though actually marrying them. The men prioritize the state of their guns, doting on them like in marriage. The guns are the main tools for the season and therefore one can understand the care and attention given to these guns.

“My father’s house turns macho as from far the hunters gather.”

The persona’s father’s house ‘turns macho’ with the arrival of several men. This manly feel can be seen as excessively aggressive or assertive way.

“All night long contentless women stir their brews: hot coffee chocolata, cerassie wrap pone and tie-leaf for tomorrow’s sport. Tonight the men drink white rum neat.”

The women are ‘contentless,’ because they are displeased or unhappy. This could be the result of them staying up all night preparing the beverages and food for these men without thanks, only for them to depart for a long period of time to shoot birds. The men have neglected care for their wives and children but expect the women to supply their needs. The poem alludes the Caribbean culture as the men drink ‘white rum neat,’ or at its full strength. Again, this shows the assertive manliness as the men consume strong alcohol.

“In darkness shouldering their packs, their guns, they leave”

The men now leave in the darkness with their cherished guns and the packs holding food and drink. There is no mention of the men thanking the women and they appear only to acknowledge themselves.

“We stand quietly on the doorstep shivering. Little boys longing to grow up birdhunters too Little girls whispering: Fly Birds Fly.”

Shivering in the cold morning air, boys seem to idolize the birdhunting men, hoping to become like them in the future while the girls hope for the birds to fly away and escape. This suggests that the females are more empathetic and caring than the aggressive masculinity of the men. This could also be because birdshooting takes their fathers away for a simple sport, and if the birds were not around then their fathers would stay at home. In addition, there is the implications that these girls see themselves in the birds and being grasped by an endless cycle surrounding a ritual of birdshooting for the enjoyment of men.