How does Ellen Bryant Voigt use imagery in Practice?

Practice is written in only seventeen short lines. Voigt makes the most of her brevity by introducing strong, compelling imagery that serves multiple purposes. The first image is that of the clock with its "whisker" (hand) twitching. The use of the word "whisker" brings the clock to life, as if it were an animal with the power to make time progress.

The next image is that of floating between two worlds after death. It is otherworldly and ambiguous. The image, however, is a peaceful one, in which the souls of the dead float effortlessly and seemingly of their own will from the earthly world to the world of the afterlife. The image of floating contrasts with the heaviness of the pain and the struggle the speaker feels.

The last image is the "five bronze beetles", "drugged by lust" in a peony blossom. The image is beautiful, bright, and sensual, but while Voigt creates this stunning scene from nature, she also chooses to show the speaker's dark side through it. The speaker does not marvel at the image or take comfort in the beauty of nature; instead, she tells herself that if she comes back as a bird, she will remember those defenseless beetles in that peony. The implication is that five beetles make a very satisfying meal for a bird.