Avital Horowitz - Week 6 - "The Last Time" by Rachel McKibbens

The poem "The Last Time", written by Rachel McKibbens, seems to be a poem about a key moment in her life. Although this poem is not too long, there is a lot of meaning in it. 

The poem tells the story of the time McKibbens stands up to her father after hitting her and her brother. 
This lead me to the conclusion that McKibbens grew up in an abusive home. The title of the poem "The Last Time" confirmed my conclusion because it infers that the author had experienced abuse from her father multiple times. Another reason why I believe that she grew up in an abusive how was because she had told her father "if you touch us again, I will kill you[,]" implying that this was not the first time her father had hit her.  

At first, I was a bit confused with the poem and did not really understand what it was about. I had an idea that it had to do with some sort of physical abuse because McKibbens begins the poem by saying, "[t]he welt on my face still hot." Although once I got to the end of the poem everything clicked. The end of the poem played as a major shift because it confirmed that McKibbens was abused by her father. This allowed the reader to have a better understanding of what was going on. 


The Last Time

I did it alone, 
without leaving.

The welt on my face
still hot, I crept downstairs, 
pried open the toolbox
and grabbed the hammer
with his initials burned deep 
into the handle. 

Upstairs, my brother slept
in his room, a glass box
of reptiles watching over him.

I turned the knob slowly, 
and stood over my father's body,
his chest heaving, then sinking, 
when his tongue rattled, then stopped,

and the whites of his eyes
rolled over, and he stared
only at the weapon in my hand
and I looked at him and said, 
If you ever touch us again, 
I will kill you.

And then he saw me.

Okay, he said.
Okay.

Comments

  1. BenNovember 1, 2022 at 1:07 PM

    The phrasing at the end of the poem is very powerful. The telegraphic sentence is used to accentuate the importance of the line, and McKibben tactfully arranges the order of the poem in a way that builds suspends and yearns for resolve. We don't want her to live in a nightmare. We are given that catharsis with the father's repeated single-word phrase "okay" he says, "ok".

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  2. Jack YesnerNovember 1, 2022 at 8:53 PM

    This poem tragically is so representative of what many have to go through in their childhoods and lives. It is extremely moving and makes the reader feel as she felt in that tense moment. McKibbens's imagery of her house and the tools she holds conveys the message that everything in her life has been taken away by her father, who himself is described like a monster. The poem also gives hope and empowerment at the end as it gives the possibility that her life may finally improve.

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