DDCPoetry

Original poem reprinted online here: "When the Grandmother Dies" by Fady Joudah Originally read: March 7, 2013 More information about the Poet:  Fady Joudah The title is the first line of the poem.  However, this is not apparent until the poem is read and then backtracked.  The speaker sets up three different poems with a similar thread through the use of anaphora.  For the first section, the focus is on distance.  First, the distance between what is actual and how information is spread, "It'll be kept a secret / from her four daughters".  The separation then turns to a physical one, "who'll be flying in / from three different countries."  Then this section ends with the reinforcement of distant "after years of absence / reunion ends."  Here the line "reunion ends," juxtaposes the distance -- that the idea of the sisters/daughters being united through the routine and understanding of distance, now they are forced to deal with ea...