Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
Lines 25-28
For when she heard the explosion,
Her eyes grew wet and wild.
She raced through the streets of Birmingham
Calling for her child.
- The church was bombed, as we know from the history referenced in the poem's title.
- It seems that, after she heard the explosion, the mother knew instantly that something had gone wrong, even though she couldn't have known that her daughter was involved at that point.
- At this point in the poem, we don't actually know if she was, either, though we have a bad feeling.
- The mother has that bed feeling, too. She races off to find her daughter with eyes that are "wide" with fear and "wet" with tears.