An open book has fanned pages rising into a small paper bird against a warm golden background.

Original artwork, not a still

Janet Fitch

Always learn poems by heart. They have to become the marrow in your bones. Like fluoride in the water, they'll make your soul impervious to the world's soft decay. Ingrid, White Oleander

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

Memorised poems are imagined as an inner source of strength against gradual spiritual wear. Marrow and fluoride are comparisons for absorbing poetry, rather than literal changes to bones or a health guarantee. The final Ingrid and White Oleander line is a retained character and book note.

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