The poem begins in prose form, which outpours like conversation. As a result, the prose structure creates a very warm, homelike feeling. The prose paragraph describes the speaker’s home life and provides a backstory for the reader. It is evident that there is a sense of family belonging through the speaker’s description of their home: “our walls high and bare except for the / family photos whose frames [are] crowded with siblings” (8). Undoubtedly, the family is large and fellowship with one another is an important aspect of their home life. Next, the poem abruptly switches to a lyrical voice adding a sense of musicality and anaphora. The shift emphasizes the change the speaker and her family feel when they acknowledge they are being judged by the white population. As a result, the poem first appears very uniform, then as “the white judges” (10), watch the poem drastically switches, appearing chaotic and unorderly in lyrical form. The structure switch occurs quite early in the
The poem begins in prose form, which outpours like conversation. As a result, the prose structure creates a very warm, homelike feeling. The prose paragraph describes the speaker’s home life and provides a backstory for the reader. It is evident that there is a sense of family belonging through the speaker’s description of their home: “our walls high and bare except for the / family photos whose frames [are] crowded with siblings” (8). Undoubtedly, the family is large and fellowship with one another is an important aspect of their home life. Next, the poem abruptly switches to a lyrical voice adding a sense of musicality and anaphora. The shift emphasizes the change the speaker and her family feel when they acknowledge they are being judged by the white population. As a result, the poem first appears very uniform, then as “the white judges” (10), watch the poem drastically switches, appearing chaotic and unorderly in lyrical form. The structure switch occurs quite early in the