Amilyn Mae R. Palcotilo

BSED II-N

A Mother in a Refugee Camp

          I first read the “A Mother in a Refugee Camp” when I was researching about its author, Chinua Achebe. At that time I wasn’t really very smitten by this poem maybe because I just sort of scanned it or perhaps I just didn’t care. But, when we were reminded about our project, for some unknown reason, this poem is what first came to my mind.

          A Mother in a Refugee Camp is a poem about a mother holding her dying son in her arms, for the last time. It is a painful and very sad picture if you tried to imagine it. But, despite that, Chinua Achebe was able to deliver it in a sweet and very touching way.

          The poem started, with Achebe comparing the scene with that of what happened with Mary when she was holding the body of dead Jesus Christ (Actually, I am not very sure with my interpretation of this part. The line ”No Madonna and Child could touch...” made me conclude this way.) As the poem continued, it is already evident that dying children is a common scene on that refugee camp, that some mothers no longer care. However, the woman in the poem is not like them. Though her son lay dying in her arms, there’s still a smile on her face as she remembers the happy moments she had with her beloved son. Her love for him is so strong that instead of just weeping there, she clean him up before laying him to rest, took out a comb and arranged her son’s ” rust-colored hair” like what she always did when he was getting ready for school. The last line ”Like putting flowers on a tiny grave...” signifies that the child really died.

          For me, the mother in the poem can be seen in two ways. First, she is a mother who is not yet ready to let go and accept the fact that her son is dead, that’s why she continued holding him with such care. Another is that she is a

mother who already accepted her son’s fate and she is just holding him for the last time while she is arranging his body.  Either way, one thing is very evident in this story, the amazing love of a mother to her child even in death.

This poem touched me so much because, though not all of us already lost someone we love dearly, we all know how hard that would be. Losing someone is painful enough. So, imagine how hard it is for a mother to watch her son die in her arms. This poem described the pain of losing someone in a very sad yet sweet way. It is sad and depressing and heart breaking but I enjoyed it. This is just one of the reasons why Chinua Achebe is considered a legend in poem writing.