Relate Two Poem to Belonging

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Peter Skrzynecki's poems "Feliks Skrzynecki" and "Postcard" both explore complex idea about belonging. Both poems suggest that belonging comes from a connection to place and people, people can choose to belong and that belonging can be modified over time. Feliks in Peter Skzynecki's poem "Feliks Skzynecki" feels a close connection to places and people. He is described at the beginning of the poem as loving "his garden like an only child", sweeping "its paths/ Ten times around the world." The simile and hyperbole evoke a sense of his dedication to his garden and his paternal feelings towards it, connecting to this place like a father connects to an only child. His sense of belonging also comes from his close connection to his Polish friends who "reminisced/ About farms where paddocks flowered/ […] Horses they bred […]." The cumulation of positive verbs conveys a sense of their nostalgia and shared pride in their cultural heritage; a heritage that connects them together and fosters a sense of belonging. Contrastingly, in "Postcard", Peter Skrzynecki does not feel the same sense of connection to his homeland that his father feels, but rather feels alienated and disengaged. The postcard of Warsaw "sent by a friend" "Haunts" him "since its arrival." The eerie connotations of "haunts" and its position on a line by itself portray the persona's unease and uncertain connection to this place. This contrasts to his friend's perception that his parents will react positively to this postcard, feeling a sense of connection to it: "He requests I show it/ To my parents." The separation of "I" and his parents on a separate line suggests their different perceptions to the postcard. This alienation from this place comes from his lack of direct experience of it, contrasting with Feliks's time spent in

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