"The present contains nothing more than the past."

In this contemporary poem, "The Black Lace Fan my Mother Gave me" written by Eavan Bolland, the relation between the past and the present is examined. Looking at a seemingly insignificant occurrence, which has unexplained effects on the speaker's mother and therefore the speaker, does this. Set in pre-war Paris, the insignificant incident that occurs is the buying of a black lace fan. This fan is a great importance to the poem though it is never clearly explained to us why. Maybe this is recognition of our inability to fully understand and recall the past and the effect it has on us although we may attempt to. This poem is one of those attempts.

Written in a matter-of-fact way this poem reflects on the past to try to make sense of the...