Marigolds is the title of a poem written by Alice Walker in 1983. The poem describes a young girl’s memories of her mother, who was 40 years old when she died. It reflects on the fragility of life, the inevitability of change, and how quickly time passes—all themes that are central to Walker’s work as an author.
The tone of Marigolds is nostalgic and wistful. The speaker looks back on her childhood with fondness and regret at what she has lost, but also with awe at what she still has left: memories of her mother’s love for her and for the world around them both.
The poem captures the feeling of a time and place that is gone forever; it is sad and beautiful at once. The speaker remembers her mother’s beauty as well as her own sense of wonder at the world around her; these feelings are expressed through references to nature (the marigolds themselves) as well as to memory itself (the girl’s ability to recall).
Marigolds is about the fragility of life and the inevitability of change: nothing lasts forever—not even childhood innocence or youthful beauty—so we must learn to treasure those things while they last because they will never last long enough for us to get.
