The Pen

The pen is the tool the speaker uses to carry on the tradition of his family. It is metaphorically compared to the spade they see their father using outside, and the writing process parallels the agricultural process of working the land. The image of the pen opens and closes the poem, linking it to the speaker’s sense of identity; they use the pen to sow, cultivate, and harvest in the rhythms that define their family.

Potatoes

The potatoes symbolize both the fruits of the father’s labor and the speaker’s connection to their childhood. By engaging in the hard work of digging and gardening, the father is able to cultivate the potatoes as his reward. The speaker remembers the tactile sensation of holding the new potatoes, the seeds that they would lay in the earth much like a writer lays down their ideas...