Subject matter

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We Remember Your Childhood Well

Nobody hurt you. Nobody turned off the light and arguedwith somebody else all night. The bad man on the moorswas only a movie you saw. Nobody locked the door.

Your questions were answered fully. No. That didn't occur.You couldn't sing anyway, cared less. The moment's a blur, a Film Funlaughing itself to death in the coal fire. Anyone's guess.

Nobody forced you. You wanted to go that day. Begged. You chosethe dress. Here are the pictures, look at you. Look at us all,smiling and waving, younger. The whole thing is inside your head.

What you recall are impressions; we have the facts. We called the tune.The secret police of your childhood were older and wiser than you, biggerthan you. Call back the sound of their voices. Boom. Boom. Boom.

Nobody sent you away. That was an extra holiday, with peopleyou seemed to like. They were firm, there was nothing to fear.There was none but yourself to blame if it ended in tears.

What does it matter now? No, no, nobody left the skidmarks of sinon your soul and laid you wide open for Hell. You were loved.Always. We did what was best. We remember your childhood well.

A child's drawings

The poem is a dramatic monologuemonologue: A long speech given by one person (usually in a drama), expressing their private thoughts.: an angry parent (or parents) is talking to a grown-up child. The parent denies that the child was ever hurt or mistreated in any way, although it's clear that the child remembers things very differently...

The speaker sounds very much on the defensive: clearly the grown-up child has complained about something or asked an awkward question. The parent insists that the child was brought up well and was loved, and suggests that if the child thinks otherwise, they must be imagining it - "The whole thing is inside your head" (line 9).

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