keeping orchids

• my mother gave me when we first met

  unusual - we dont expect someone to meet their mum for the first time
• are still alive

  suggests she has been taking good care of them, where her mother did not
• closed as secrets

  similie - the buds are compared to secrets , suggests the mother is trying to hide her past
• her and mine

  suggests there is a huge distance between them literally and figurativley
• the whole glass carafe has crashed

  assonance - creates the sense that the glass is falling in slow motion, creates a sense of panic and frustration
• all the broken waters

  minor sentence - links to birth and calm of waters being disturbed
• upset orchids

  the objects reflects the writers feelings, she is feeling upset and troubled
• the closed ones did not open out

  represents the mother and her secretive nature. her mother is the closed one
• twelve days later

  it has been a long time since they had first met, implies this was a one off meeting and they dont plan to meet again
• her voice is fading fast

  she is struggling to remember what her birth mother was like
• a paisley pattern scarf, a brooch, a navy coat

  she dosent remember anything concrete about the way her mothers looks, only her clothing. suggests she dosent feel a connection with her mother
• her hands awkward and hard to hold

  alliteration - emphasises the awkwardness and lack of warmth between them
• her secret life - a hidden album, a box of love letters

  implies kay and her father have been her mothers secret
• time is outside waiting

  suggests this meeting will not have an impact on the writers life
• cutting the stems with a sharp knife

  harsh action done to the flowers to ensure the long life of the flowers

  represents the writers adoption that she was seperated from her birth mother at a young age to give her a chance of a better life