“One Flesh” written by Elizabeth Jennings is a poem which shows the narrator’s reaction towards the passionless marriage of her parents. She explores their never in a melancholic tone. The title can be related to Bible in the Book of Genesis, in the creation of Adam and Eve. There the two individuals were ‘one flesh’ and could not be divided. This concept also extends to marriage where two individuals become one entity. Here the parents of the narrator were also ‘one flesh’ as mentioned in the title. They are the remnants of a former passion. Speaker says that she has rarely seen her parents touch or when they did that was fake or an act of necessity. Their relationship does not seem genuine. Poet describes the relation as ‘flotsam’ which shows their relationship growing colder. Poet also says that “whose fire from which I came, has now grown cold?”. The poet views her parents behaviour as chaste, or they are preparing themselves for the lives of chastity. During those times chastity was of utmost importance. So the narrator ends the poem by saying that all people, including her parents’ final destination is chastity.
Even though at an age they engage in passionate relationship they ultimately return to abstinence. Poet also questions whether the parents know they are old. The parents lie close but, they are not speaking to one another. They are mentally apart, their minds drifts to different places. The poet says that they are wasting precious moments they are together. For the speaker time seems to be a feather, which is withering away. Even though poet is able to find the feather parents are not realising that time is not left.
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