Belonging - Peter Skryznecki

Belonging
Peter Skryznecki explores the implications of belonging in the poems “Feliks Skryznecki” and “10 Mary Street”. These two poems imply that a sense of belonging comes from the connections made with people and places, and belonging can be modified over time. Through the incorporation of word choice and poetic techniques, Skryznecki was able to convey messages of belonging to the audience.
In “Feliks Skryznecki”, it is implied that Feliks had close connections with people and places. The phrases ‘loved his garden like an only child’ and ‘swept its paths, ten times around the world’ shows this implication as they contain personification and hyperbole which brings to mind Feliks’ great responsibility and dedication towards his garden therefore fostering a sense of belonging. Also, in stanza three, Feliks and his polish friends reminisced when they were still living in their home country: “...about farms where paddocks flowered...corn and wheat...horses they bred”. These phrases contain very positive verbs and imagery which indicate Feliks’ and his friends’ mutual pride of their motherland. This common pride is what connects Feliks and his friend, being that they had been through similar journeys.
Similarly, in “10 Mary Street”, a sense of belonging was integrated from the connections made with the family members and the house that they lived in. In the third stanza, Skryznecki had used personification to describe the house: “The house stands, in its china-blue coat...” This description makes the house seem as though it is an individual rather than an object - it had been given life by the people who lived in it. The poet’s use of personification emphasises the emotional bonds that formed with this house by the residents over the years, therefore a sense of belonging is present in this particular perspective.
Also, a sense of security established through the practises of their culture had also implied a sense of belonging. In the fourth stanza: ”For...