Analyzing Peter Skrzynecki's Poems Feliks Skrzynecki and Postcard

Peter Skrzynecki's poems "Feliks Skrzynecki" and "Postcard" both explore complex idea about belonging. Both poems suggest that belonging comes from a connection to place and people, people can choose to belong and that belonging can be modified over time. Feliks in Peter Skzynecki's poem "Feliks Skzynecki" feels a close connection to places and people. He is described at the beginning of the poem as loving "his garden like an only child", sweeping "its paths/ Ten times around the world." The simile and hyperbole evoke a sense of his dedication to his garden and his paternal feelings towards it, connecting to this place like a father connects to an only child. His sense of belonging also comes from his close connection to his Polish friends who "reminisced/ About farms where paddocks flowered/ […] Horses they bred […]." The cumulation of positive verbs conveys a sense of their nostalgia and shared pride in their cultural heritage; a heritage that connects them together and fosters a sense of belonging.Belonging is central to how we define ourselves: our belonging to or connections with people, places and groups enables one to develop a distinct identity characterised by affiliation, acceptance and association. Skrzynecki (pronounced sher-neski), straddles a dichotomy; that of identification and disconnection. On the one hand, the father represents an alienation experienced by an older migrant, while the son experiences the gradual integration into a new society. This is a subdued poem in tribute to his father, a common labourer, whose dignity, integrity and resolute principles leave a lasting impression on his son. Feliks does not dance to the dominant tune as evidenced by the modified cliché “kept pace only with the Joneses/Of his own mind’s making-“ He is a man who lives by his own standards, a non-conformist, not influenced by those around him. Despite his outwardly toughness, Peter claims him as “My gentle father” and “the softness of his blue eyes”,