Duffy: Stafford Afternoons

• Speaker looks back on Childhood memories of what they did when days seemed long. Tension rises to climax, when exposed to harsh adult world when encountering a predator. Marks ending of childhood innocence
• “only there, 


  …the afternoons could suddenly pause”
• “Ice-cream van…

  …dwindled away”
• “Green silence gulped…


  …once and swallowed me whole”
• “Sticky breath…


  …gather spit in their throats”
• “Too late…

  …living purple root”
• “Children scattered…


  …time fell from the sky like a red ball”
• Why is an ice cream van used?

  Typical symbol of childhood. Foreshadows the destruction of childhood innocence
• What themes are presented?

  loss of childhood innocence

  traumatic experiences (+ effect)

  nuances of experiences