Written in unrhymed lines, mostly brief, creating effect of natural speech. The poet writes lists for the people and the vessels they bring. Poem appeals to the reader's senses, with references to dripping noise of water and flashing sunlight. Poet contrasts the exotic presents with what she saw in her school, and with the things her aunts wanted in return. Presents form a link to an alternative way of life in 1950s Lahore.
Salwar kameez suggests familiar notion of exotic clothes worn by Asian women.
But glass bangle, which draws blood, is symbol of how tradition harms the poet - not practical for the active life of a young woman in the west. The idea of living in two cultures is seen in the voyage, from Pakistan to England, which the poet made as a child and which she dimly recalls. On Sunday he worked out anger and explored West African roots, in carving image of a tribal god. Poem set out as couplets on the page. Many of the lines will run on.