Mary Karr's Still Memory

“Still Memory” by Mary Karr is a poem that depicts the distant, childhood memory that the author fondly recalls. Karr’s nostalgic diction and word choice is evident when she says, “…till it found my old notch in the house I grew up in…” In this section, Karr is dreaming, hoping to find a happier time in her life, her childhood. Throughout the poem, Karr is recalling a time when she was only ten years old, and shows how each of her family members’ mannerisms influenced her and her future in writing. What may only appear to be the family performing their daily routine, is much more beneath the surface. According to the lines, “My ten-year-old hand reaches for a pen to record it all as would become long habit,” these actions are what influenced her writing. For writers, inspiration can come from the simplest of elements, and for Karr, this happened to be her family. Karr is very precise with her word choice and is able to

Although it is evident that she grew up in a low-income household, Karr still thought fondly of her family and the mornings that they would spend together, doing their own things. The theme the author was trying to convey to her audience was that despite where we come from, or how we grew up, something great can come from it. In the last lines when it says, “My ten-year-old hand reaches for a pen to record it all as would become long habit,” this is showing how Karr escaped and later thrived, despite her poor upbringing. By combining the elements of her father getting off of work late from his graveyard shift, her sister having to run across the cold bathroom tiles because there is no heat, and her mom making tea in the “battered old drip pot”, we are able to visualize just how poor her family was. These memories helped sooth the author and provide a sense of comfort within