Silk+DC

“Silk Parachute”

This piece by McPhee is quite different than what I expected – not that I really have a whole lot of expectations so far, I suppose. This is somewhat of a trip down memory lane for McPhee, looking back at his childhood with his loving mother. What I particularly liked was the approach he took to what might be considered “bad memories” of times he got into trouble, or had to be punished, or things of that sort. He recounts such memories with disclaimers such as “it has been reported that this may have happened...” or “evidence seem to suggest that...” etc, which he then accompanies with precise details, even exact dates and times. So clearly he does remember these things, but it’s almost as if he’s trying to rewrite history in his own mind – editing out the bad parts, or at least downplaying their significance. I thought it was a great technique.

It’s a technique that is dropped when he moves on to his fond and happy memories, which he recounts with precision and enthusiasm, leaving no doubt as to whether this “may or may not have happened” the way he’s telling us – or at least, the way he remembers it. The culmination at the end with his memory of his silk parachute pulls the whole piece together with a nice metaphor for the unconditional love of a mother. As he says, no matter what he does to that silk parachute – beats it, rips it, thrashes it, tosses it way up in the air – it always floats right back to him as calmly and beautifully as ever. Just like his beloved mother.