Chua New | Countdown By Grace

Daytime, and her mother-ship shuttles its small satellites from playschool to violin class, the swimming pool, art lessons, ballet, and feeds them at irregular intervals in a twenty-four-hour tour of duty.

Her day is a logistical marathon: "shuttling small satellites" (her children) between playschool, violin class, swimming, art lessons, and ballet, all while managing the symphony of household appliances. The astronaut in the poem feels overwhelmed by her sensory surroundings and dreams of being in a "vacuum," desperately longing for the simplicity and freedom of youth. In the poem's final, poignant image, she stares out at the night sky, mentally counting down the hours until her children are grown, wishing for the moment "all the clocks break free". countdown by grace chua new

Urban isolation, the passage of time, structural confinement, existential dread Melancholic, reflective, tense, observational Key Literary Devices Daytime, and her mother-ship shuttles its small satellites