Nothing Could Do That Nothing By Helen Woodson

The last three lines of the poem to me are the most powerful. "That stupid fire couldn't take all of them. Nothing could do that. Nothing", to me it narrator being vulnerable and I believe the narrator for a second lets down that wall he or she has built from the loss of his or her parents (Woodson). The narrator wants to be strong when talking about the loss of his or her parent and he or she may still believe that their parents are not gone, but in the end of the poem the narrator does show the reader that he or she does feel a sense of his or her parents not being there. It is as if the narrator is reminding his or her that nothing can take their parents away completely, but at the same time they have to deal with the fact that part of
his or her parents have died. The reason I feel this way is due to movies and plays. I imagine a person saying the poem as a monologue and the actor would drop his or her head as the said the last nothing in a soft and weak voice. The whole time the actor would be speaking with the strength, but when the actor gets to that part where he or she has to say "Nothing" the actor breaks down a little. Also speaking for myself, even if I could repress the ideal of my parents dying and be able to say "They just died, that's all" when I have to admit that nothing can take all of them away I know I would still be admitting that part of parents are gone.