Gap Year (SQA National 5 English): Revision Note
Exam code: X824 75
Below is a guide to Jackie Kay’s poem ‘Gap Year’ in preparation for the SQA National 5 English exam. It includes:
Overview: a breakdown of the poem, including its possible meanings and interpretations
Writer’s methods: an exploration of Kay’s techniques and methods
Understanding the poem: an exploration of the themes and ideas within Kay’s poem
Linking the poems: an understanding of how ‘Gap Year’ connects to Kay’s other prescribed poems for the Scottish text section
Overview
In order to answer questions on any poem it is vital that you understand what it is about. This section includes:
An overview of the poem
A ‘translation’ of the poem, section-by-section
A commentary of each of these sections, outlining Jackie Kay’s intention and message
‘Gap Year’ overview
‘Gap Year’, written by the poet Jackie Kay, is a poem about motherhood. The speaker is the mother of a grown-up son travelling South America. The title refers, literally, to the adult son’s year of exploration on a “Gap Year” while serving, too, as a metaphor for the speaker’s longing for her son while he is away. The poem takes the form of a two-part reflection: the mother’s memory of her son’s birth and infancy and her feelings for him as an adult.
‘Gap Year’ translation
Lines 1-4
“I remember your Moses basket before you were born.
I’d stare at the fleecy white sheet for days, weeks,
willing you to arrive, hardly able to believe
I would ever have a real baby to put in the basket”
Translation
The poem begins directly addressing the speaker’s son
The speaker describes the excitement she felt as she awaited his birth, imagining the reality of him in the “basket” or cot
Kay’s intention
The poet describes a “fleecy white sheet” in the “basket”, connoting to purity
The poem begins with a semantic field of time: “days, weeks”:
This references the long wait and her anticipation, “willing” him to “arrive”
Lines 5-8
“I’d feel the mound of my tight tub of a stomach,
and you moving there, foot against my heart,
elbow in my ribcage, turning, burping, awake, asleep.
One time I imagined I felt you laugh”
Translation
The speaker describes her pregnancy
This stanza describes a time close to the baby’s birth: the speaker’s stomach is “tight” and the baby takes up a lot of space
She describes how focused she was on each of the baby’s movements
Kay’s intention
Kay’s list of the unborn baby’s movements implies the mother’s complete focus on him as he moved, slept and woke:
Present continuous verbs conveys a vivid memory: “turning, burping”
A short sentence conveys the mother’s excitement as they imagined the baby “laugh”
Line 9-12
“I’d play you Handel’s Water Music or Emma Kirkby
singing Pergolesi. I’d talk to you, my close stranger,
call you Tumshie, ask when you were coming to meet me.
You arrived late, the very hot summer of eighty-eight”
Translation
The speaker addresses her unborn son, telling him how she played him calming music, spoke to him, and gave him a funny nickname “Tumshie”
The final line explains that he was born late, in the summer of 1988
Kay’s Intention
Kay describes the bond the mother had with her son even before he was born with an oxymoron, “close stranger”
A short sentence concludes the stanza describing the intensity of the “very hot summer” during which he was finally born
Lines 13-16
“You had passed the due date string of eights,
and were pulled out with forceps, blue, floury,
on the fourteenth of August on Sunday afternoon.
I took you home on Monday and lay you in your basket”
Translation
The speaker now describes the birth: her son was due was on the eighth of August 1988 (a “string of eights”), but was only born on the “fourteenth of August”
Each detail is listed: the baby was “blue” and covered in a white, flour-like film:
He was taken home from hospital the day after he was born
Finally, the mother can lay him in his “basket”
Kay’s intention
Kay’s close description of the birth highlights its significance
The speaker remembers each detail, presenting it as a vivid memory:
This highlights the intensity of the mother-child relationship
Lines 17-20
“Now, I peek in your room and stare at your bed
hardly able to imagine you back in there sleeping,
Your handsome face – soft, open. Now you are eighteen,
six foot two, away, away in Costa Rica, Peru, Bolivia”
Translation
The poem shifts into part two:
The son is now “eighteen”, a tall “six foot two”, travelling in South America
The mother spends time in his room, trying hard to imagine him as a baby again
Kay’s intention
The poet shifts to present tense (“Now”) in the second part of the poem to show the passing of time:
Kay contrasts the baby’s “soft” face with his height to convey the change
The verbs “peek” and “stare” creates nostalgia as the mother remembers her grown son as an infant:
A dash as she remembers his face presents the speaker’s unstable, broken voice, conveying the longing she feels
A list of countries in South America suggest the son is travelling from place to place:
The repetition of “away, away” conveys the mother’s longing
Lines 21-23
“I follow your trails on my Times Atlas:
from the Caribbean side of Costa Rica to the Pacific,
the baby turtles to the massive leatherbacks”
Translation
The mother imagines where her son is: she traces his journey in an atlas
She describes the animals he would see
Kay’s intention
Kay portrays the mother missing her son by detailing his journey
She uses a list (“from” and “to”) to represent his extensive travels
The contrast between “baby turtles” and “massive leatherbacks” reinforce the mother’s mixed emotions as she reflects on her infant son and his adulthood
Lines 24-26
“Then on to Lima, to Cuzco. Your grandfather
rings: ‘Have you considered altitude sickness,
Christ, he’s sixteen thousand feet above sea level”
Translation
A description of the son’s travels and a section of dialogue is split across the stanzas
This indicates that the mother is imagining her son’s travels when she receives a call from her father, who expresses concern over his grandson’s safety
Kay’s intention
Kay contrasts the mother’s romantic musings to her son with the gruffer voice of her father
His anxious voice provides a break from the sentimental tone of the poem:
Her father voices practical concerns with a statistic (“sixteen thousand feet”)
Reality interferes with her reflections, signalled by the enjambment of “Your grandfather/rings”
Lines 27-29
“Then to the lost city of the Incas, Macchu Picchu,
Where you take a photograph of yourself with the statue
of the original Tupac. You are wearing a Peruvian hat”
Translation
The speaker returns to following her son’s travels: she continues listing the exotic places her son explores
The addition of a “photograph” alerts readers to the son’s contact with his mother: she sees him wearing a “Peruvian hat” in a photograph he has sent her
Kay’s intention
A present-tense description of a photograph (“You are wearing”) highlights the close bond between mother and son, despite the distance
The speaker describes her son as an explorer visiting ancient cities, hinting she is proud of his adventurous nature
Lines 30-32
“Yesterday in Puno before catching the bus for Copacabana,
you suddenly appear on a webcam and blow me a kiss,
you have a new haircut; your face is grainy, blurry”
Translation
The speaker relates the call she has with her son the day before:
As he is about to leave for “Copacabana”, he calls her by “webcam”
The speaker says he has changed, adding that the reception was poor (his face was “grainy” and blurred)
Kay’s intention
Kay emphasises the close relationship the mother has with her son: he takes time out to call her and blow her a “kiss”
The phone-call changes the tone somewhat:
A colon separates the “new haircut” with an observation that the son appears “blurry”, highlighting the distance between them
Lines 33-36
“Seeing you, shy, smiling, on the webcam reminds me
of the second scan at twenty weeks, how at that fuzzy
moment back then, you were lying cross-legged with
an index finger resting sophisticatedly on one cheek”
Translation
The speaker’s call with her son reminds her of the way he was before he was born:
She describes the “second scan” when his appearance was equally “fuzzy”
The mother can remember exact details about the image on the scan
Kay’s intention
Kay’s poem shifts back to the mother’s vivid memories:
The detailed description of him lying “cross–legged” in her stomach highlights the significance of the event
The speaker suggests her son was “sophisticated” even then, which emphasises her love, and her sense of pride in his interest in culture
Lines 37-41
“You started the Inca trail in Arctic conditions
and ended up in subtropical. Now you plan the Amazon
in Bolivia. Your grandfather rings again to say
‘There’s three warring factions in Bolivia, warn him
against it. He canny see everything. Tell him to come home’”
Translation
The mother continues to keep track of her son’s movements:
His journey is described as adventurous and extreme
Again, the speaker’s father calls to advise of the dangers of her son’s travels
He thinks the boy should end his explorations, that he cannot see “everything”
Kay’s intention
Kay contrasts the “Arctic conditions” with “subtropical” to emphasise the extreme nature of the son’s travels
The present tense of “Now you plan the Amazon” hints at a second call from the speaker’s son, which is interrupted with another advisory call from her father
The mother’s lack of reply suggests she is not as worried as her father:
This, perhaps, highlights different generational attitudes and raises the theme of family relationships
Lines 42-49
“But you say all the travellers you meet rave about Bolivia. You want
to see the Salar de Uyuni,
the world’s largest salt-flats, the Amazonian rainforest.
And now you are not coming home till four weeks after
your due date. After Bolivia, you plan to stay
with a friend’s Auntie in Argentina.
Then – to Chile where you’ll stay with friends of Diane’s.
And maybe work for the Victor Jara Foundation”
Translation
The mother receives news, perhaps in response to relaying these concerns
The son is not worried: he is keen to visit more places
In fact, he is extending his travels and, like his birth, he will be later than expected:
The son has made lots of friends and wants to stay longer, perhaps he will even stay to work there
Kay’s intention
Kay uses conjunctions “But” and “And” to represent the son’s voice:
“After Bolivia” and “Then” implies his plans to stay longer than intended
The mother’s sadness is suggested by the slightly panicked “And now”
The reference to “due date” takes the mother back to his overdue birth, indirectly characterising the son as unpredictable:
The list of places he wants to see and the mention of friends and work implies, again, that he is adventurous
Lines 50-55
“I feel like a home-alone mother; all the lights
have gone out in the hall, and now I am
wearing your large black slippers, flip-flopping
into your empty bedroom, trying to imagine you
in your bed. I stare at the photos you send by messenger:
you on the top of the world, arms outstretched, eager”
Translation
The speaker returns to her reflections: she describes the dark house and her loneliness without her son
For comfort, she wears her son’s slippers and notices the sound they make
She relates how the photographs of her son show his excitement about the world
Kay’s intention
Kay emphasises the mother’s solitude with sensory imagery: the “flip-flopping” of the slippers and the dark “hall”
The tone becomes melancholy as the speaker observes the absence of her son
In contrast, adjectives like “outstretched” and “eager” convey her son’s exciting adventures, suggestive of the mother’s self-sacrifice
Lines 56-60
“Blue sky, white snow; you by Lake Tararhua, beaming.
My heart soars like the birds in your bright blue skies.
My love glows like the sunrise over the lost city.
I sing along to Ella Fitzgerald, A tisket A tasket.
I have a son out in the big wide world”
Translation
The photographs at which the mother stares show her son’s happiness, which, in turn, makes her happy:
She rejoices in his adventures and lives them through him
She sings songs that remind her of when her son was a baby and recites the words to a nursery rhyme: “A tisket A tasket”
Kay’s intention
Kay’s similes compare the mother’s joy with the places her son visits:
This emphasises her love for him, that she is happy because he is happy
Kay presents motherhood as pure and selfless in emotive imagery such as “soars” and “glows”
The last isolated line creates a tone of maternal pride:
The mother celebrates her son’s independence in the “big wide world”
Line 61
“A flip and a skip ago, you were dreaming in your basket”
Translation
The poem ends with a one line stanza
Kay brings together the present and the past:
The mother feels that time has passed quickly
She feels that it was only a short time ago that her son was a baby "dreaming" of the adventures he now lives
Kay’s intention
Kay’s reflective and sentimental poem ends with short, onomatopoeiac sounds:
The rhyming “flip and a skip” emphasise how quickly time has passed for the mother
The poem ends romantically, describing an innocent baby “dreaming” of their future
Writer’s methods
Although this section is organised into three separate sections — form, structure and language — it is always best to move from what the poet is presenting (the techniques they use; the overall form of the poem; what comes at the beginning, middle and end of a poem) to how and why they have made the choices they have.
Focusing on the poet’s overarching ideas, rather than individual poetic techniques, will gain you far more marks. Crucially, in the below sections, all analysis is arranged by theme and includes Jackie Kay’s intentions behind her choices in terms of:
Form
Structure
Language
Form
Jackie Kay’s poem ‘Gap Year’ is a reflective, personal monologue that takes the form of a one-sided conversation between mother and son. The mother reflects on her feelings about her grown-up son and remembers him as an infant.
Theme | Evidence | Poet’s intention |
Relationships | The poem is a direct address to a son as the speaker (the mother) reflects on his life from birth up to his adulthood: “I remember your Moses basket before you were born” | Kay’s tribute to a son (“for Mateo”) reflects on the passing of time since before his birth to adulthood:
|
Structure
The two-part structure of the poem weaves the son’s travels alongside the mother’s experiences and reflections at home without him. The length of the poem highlights the mother’s solitude in his absence.
Theme | Evidence | Poet’s intention |
Relationships | ‘Gap Year’ has 16 regular stanzas:
| Kay recreates the mixed emotions the mother feels as she hears about her son’s exciting adventures abroad:
|
Nostalgia | The poem begins and ends with the mother remembering the birth of her son:
| Shifting between the past and the present blends the time between the son’s birth and his adulthood to imply the vividness of the mother’s memory |
Language
Jackie Kay uses vivid imagery to portray the significance of the son’s birth in the mother’s life.
Theme | Evidence | Poet’s intention |
Relationships | Kay portrays the mother’s experiences at home with verbs like “peek”, “stare”, and “flip-flopping”, | Kay focuses on the mother’s reality to present motherhood as self-sacrificing and all-encompassing |
Similes blend the son’s experiences with the mother’s emotions at home: “My heart soars like the birds in your bright blue skies” and “My love glows like the sunrise over the lost city” | Kay presents the close bond between parent and child by weaving descriptions of the son’s travels alongside the mother’s emotions | |
Nostalgia | Alliteration alongside sensory imagery describe the mother’s detailed memory of her son before he was born: the "fleecy white sheet" and her "tight tub of a stomach". | Kay presents the significance of the son’s birth in the mother’s life |
Understanding the poem
For the SQA National 5 English exam, it’s important to show a clear and thoughtful understanding of the poem’s themes and main ideas, as well as how the poet’s techniques and intentions help to convey meaning. This section focuses on two main themes that Kay examines in ‘Gap Year’:
Nostalgia
Family Relationships
Nostalgia
The poem ‘Gap Year’ is a reflective, one-sided address from a mother to her son:
It is presented as a tribute to “Mateo”
The title refers to the son’s experiences abroad and the gap this creates in his mother’s life:
This stirs the mother’s memories of his birth
The juxtaposition of the son’s present-day adult experiences away from home against memories of his infancy creates a nostalgic tone:
The “blurry” calls from the son trigger a memory of the “scan” the mother had before he was born
The speaker stands in his empty bedroom and remembers him as a baby
Detailed memories of playing her unborn baby music and awaiting his birth are set against present-day phone-calls and photographs of “blue sky”
The mother’s loneliness is portrayed with images of her alone at home trying to feel closer to her son by imagining his presence and wearing his big “slippers”
The passage of time is lengthened and compressed:
The long lists of places the son visits conveys the length of time he is away
However, the speaker emphasises how quickly time has passed by starting and ending the reflection with an image of her son as a baby
Family Relationships
The poem depicts an enduring bond between a parent and child, specifically a mother and son, that closes physical distance and blurs the passing of time
Kay’s mother’s longing for her son is overtaken by her pride and happiness for him, presenting motherhood as self-sacrificing:
Even the obvious concern and worry for the son’s safety is undermined by the mother’s sense of excitement on his behalf
The mother’s love is conveyed by her focus on her unborn child which continues into adulthood as she tracks his journeys with an Atlas:
The poem suggests that the intimacy between the mother and son begins before birth, that he is a “close stranger”
Family bonds are emphasised by the continued contact between the mother and child, highlighting a metaphorical anchoring felt by the son despite being far away
Examiner Tips and Tricks
In the Critical Reading exam, you must cover two genres. This means you can only answer questions on Kay in either the Scottish text question (Section A) or the critical essay question (Section B) of this paper. You cannot answer questions on any other poem in the essay section if you answer the question on Jackie Kay for the Scottish text question.
Linking the poems
Most students who study Jackie Kay’s poetry for the SQA National 5 exam use it to answer the Scottish text section. However, you can choose to write your critical essay on Kay’s poetry.
If you choose Jackie Kay for the Scottish text section, you’ll need to demonstrate a broader understanding of her poetry in the final question, as required by the SQA. This means referring to ideas, themes, or techniques from at least one of her other poems.
The six prescribed poems by Jackie Kay are:
‘Gap Year’
‘Keeping Orchids’
‘Whilst Leila Sleeps’
‘Grandpa’s Soup’
‘Darling’
‘Maw Broon Visits a Therapist’
The final question will likely concentrate on an aspect of content, such as theme or characters in the poems, or on a technique, such as use of imagery or contrast.
Below are some useful comparisons between the six prescribed poems.
Theme: Nostalgia | |||||
‘Gap Year’ | ‘Keeping Orchids’ | ‘Whilst Leila Sleeps’ | ‘Grandpa’s Soup’ | ‘Darling’ | ‘Maw Broon Visits a Therapist’ |
A mother’s memories of childbirth and their son’s infancy | The bittersweet memory of an adult child meeting their mother for the first time | A scared speaker longs for the comfort of their mother | A grandchild making memories with their grandfather | The memories between close friends, childhood | A mother’s longing for a lost identity. childhood |
Theme: Relationships | |||||
‘Gap Year’ | ‘Keeping Orchids’ | ‘Whilst Leila Sleeps’ | ‘Grandpa’s Soup’ | ‘Darling’ | ‘Maw Broon Visits a Therapist’ |
The close bond between mother and son despite distance, pride | A fractured relationship between mother and an adult child | A young daughter seeks comfort from their mother during a crisis, the mother soothes their child despite their fear | An intimate and comforting relationship between a grandchild and grandfather, pride and belonging | Intimacy between close friends, eternal bonds | Expectations of a mother, family dynamics |
Sources
Koval, Ramona, and Jackie Kay. “Jackie Kay - Poet.” Scottish Poetry Library, (opens in a new tab)Accessed 9 December 2025.
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