pot by Shamshad Khan

• Structure


  • fragmented sentences
  • enjambment
  • irregular structure
  • free verse
• Fragmented sentences

  • enjambment
  • separation from home and culture, yet still a connection there
• Free verse

  • the pot had no control over where it was taken
  • the speaker's emotions as she looks at the pot are so strong that she can't control her words
• they said you shouldn't really be moved

  • pronoun
  • personification
  • personification of the pot all the way through
  • the speaker is talking to the pit
  • direct address
  • "you", "moved"
  • assonance
  • "ooh" sound
  • discovering the pot for the first time
  • less harsh sound that contrasts with the rest of the poem
  • excuse
  • the pot HAS been moved
  • colonialist attitudes
  • greedy, careless
  • they acknowledge that it is big and fragile, but they moved it anyway out of greed
• you could be from anywhere pot


  • now the reader knows that she's talking to the pot
• you could almost be an english pot


  • can't make the pot English no matter how hard the colonisers try
• but I know you're not.

  • harsh end stop
  • the anger kicks in
• I know half of the story pot / of where you came from / of how you got here


  • enjambment speeds up the pace
  • desperation
• did they say you were bought pot


  • excuse, lie
  • the pot is considered a commodity, not a useful thing anymore
• a looter's deal done / the whole lot


  • auction
  • almost certainly done in England
  • theft
• sold to the gentleman in the grey hat


  • grey associated with England
  • monochrome, a lot more boring than other cultures
  • dull colour
  • even mixing grey with other colours turns them dull
  • the people selling the pot didn't understand its worth or the love that went into making it
  • monochrome imagery contrasts with the "warm grain" imagery later
• finders are keepers you know pot


  • childish
  • another excuse by the colonisers
• the white sailing yacht

  • monochrome imagery
  • suggests that the thieves have money
• bound for england


  • "england" not capitalised
  • the speaker has no respect for the colonisers
  • "bound" suggests imprisonment or lack of choice
  • captivity
  • links to the slave trade?
  • not a direct link but our minds go there anyway
• someone / somewhere


  • vague
  • nameless person from a nameless place
  • lack of care or respect for the person who made it
  • repetition larter
• snake patterned you pot


  • the pot is huge but intricately detailed
  • someone put a lot of time and effort into creating the pot
  • makes the fact that it got stolen even sadder
• washed you pot / used you pot / loved you pot

  • tactile imagery
  • so much care went into creating the pot, but now it's just a relic
• if I could shatter this glass / I would take you back myself pot


  • the pot is clearly in a museum
  • sterile, static environment
  • the speaker feels bad for the pot
• you think they wouldn't recognise you pot


  • the pot has been away for a long time
  • she could be linking this to herself
• diaspora


  the act of people spreading away from their homeland
• pot I've been back to where my family's from

  • she feels a connection to the pot
  • she can go home but the pot can't
• said I was more asian than the asians pot

  • colloquial
  • long stanza
  • personal
  • real sense of joy
• I was pot


  • sense of genuine excitement
  • connection with the pot
• imagine.

  • hard end stop after a lot of enjambment
  • forces readers to pause and think
• warm grain poured inside


  • warm, vibrant imagery
  • contrast with the monochromatic imagery associated with England
• growl if you can hear me


  • wants the pot to live and fight back
• Theme of being objectified


  • the whole poem could be an extennded metaphor for being repurposed/replaced, or migration
  • separated from culture, like a stolen pot trapped in a museum
• Use of assonance


  • at the beginning
  • "ooh" sound
  • discovery
  • seeing the pot for the first time
  • repetition throughout the poem
  • occurs a lot
  • this situation has happened many times all over the world
  • later in the poem
  • "o" sound repetition
  • rhythmic
  • harsh, accusatory sound
  • sadness
• Use of enjambment


  • fragmented sentences
  • connection
  • even though all the lines are separated, they are still connected
  • the pot - and the poet - still has a connection to their culture despite being far from it
  • constant use of enjambment suggests that there are a lot of pots in that situation