Being separated from your parents can be a devastating experience, unfortunately some children experience this at a young age. In the piece "Speaking to My Heart", a young mother of two, shares her experience of being separated from her kids. She has a little boy who is 3 yrs old and a girl who is 1 yr old. Both her and their father is incarcerated. She tells her story about how hard it is for her to not be able to see all the new things they learn. For example her daughter's first step was not towards her. She feels like she has screwed up their lives. When they get out of prison, they want to be two stable, consistent parents, but she worries about the time past that cannot be relived. The transitioning in this piece definitely captured my attention because, apart from using music to go into each part, the voice and laughter of a child's voice was used. The mood was very poignant, it made me want to cry; this was reflected in the narrator's voice, and the sad music. The narration also helped by, using a time line format. The listener was able to understand each step of their journey, from her having her first child at 14, to having her second at 17 to being locked up, and finally trying to make a change for her children's sake. The conclusion left the listener with a melancholy feeling. Overall really good piece, filled with emotion, and wonderfully placed elements.
Summary: When Nikki became a mother of two at the age of seventeen she promised to leave her life of drugs and crime behind. It was a promise she couldn't keep.
Review of Speaking to My Heart
Kyra Joseph
Posted on December 01, 2006 at 08:38 AM
Being separated from your parents can be a devastating experience, unfortunately some children experience this at a young age. In the piece "Speaking to My Heart", a young mother of two, shares her experience of being separated from her kids. She has a little boy who is 3 yrs old and a girl who is 1 yr old. Both her and their father is incarcerated. She tells her story about how hard it is for her to not be able to see all the new things they learn. For example her daughter's first step was not towards her. She feels like she has screwed up their lives. When they get out of prison, they want to be two stable, consistent parents, but she worries about the time past that cannot be relived. The transitioning in this piece definitely captured my attention because, apart from using music to go into each part, the voice and laughter of a child's voice was used. The mood was very poignant, it made me want to cry; this was reflected in the narrator's voice, and the sad music. The narration also helped by, using a time line format. The listener was able to understand each step of their journey, from her having her first child at 14, to having her second at 17 to being locked up, and finally trying to make a change for her children's sake. The conclusion left the listener with a melancholy feeling. Overall really good piece, filled with emotion, and wonderfully placed elements.