Black Silk by Tess Gallagher

The Poem “Black Silk” by Tess Gallagher is generally illustrating the memories of two characters of their loved one. The poem gives a few hints that the man may have died and the two characters is still suffering emotionally due to his permanent absence. The title of the poem is very important because it is symbolic and it represents the actual event in the poem which is death. Black is overall situated with the passing away of someone and silk being a rich fabric which may represent the importance and preciousness of the man to the two characters.

There are many key moments in the poem. The first would be when the woman finds that silk vest and then the reaction of both towards it. It states in the poem, “She called me//to look at it, unrolling it carefully//like something live//might fall out. Then we spread it//on the kitchen table and smoothed//the wrinkles down, making our hands//heavy until its shape against Formica//came back and the little tips.” This shows how dear this man was too them. It’s like they found a part of him and tries to preserve it; keep it from fading away. Another key moment is after the character tries on the vest he/she says, “I went into the bathroom to see//how I looked in the sheen and sadness.” The two words, “sheen and sadness” again highlights how valuable this man was in their lives. However in the poem that there’s always one individual who has to be strong for both; to provide comfort in their tragic situation hence the reason why the narrator says that it was time to go to the woman with another mind and he/she stood still, putting on a barrier to mask the emotions and be strong. Overall the themes acknowledged in this poem are death, sadness, loss and significance.