What is the author's style in What Belongs to Us by Marie Howe?

By constructing the poem as a list, Howe is able to evoke ideas and emotions through repetition. Auxesis is the cataloging of a series that closes at the zenith, or high point, of the set. In Howe's case, that "zenith" of the set is her own pain. Not even it belongs to her. In its structure, Howe's poem also resembles a litany. Litanies can be prayers consisting of a series of invocations or supplications, or more simply a repetitive chant. Another prayer-like element of the poem is its focus on the relationship between mind and body.

The tone of Howe's poem is elegiac. Elegies are poems or songs that mourn the loss of something or someone. Although "What Belongs to Us" doesn't mourn an individual, it does evoke a sense of loss, nostalgia, and sorrow. Much of this emotion, however, is in response to the speaker's sense that very little belongs to her, rather than sadness over the larger losses of humanity in general.

Howe's poem uses prose-like rhythms and everyday speech. She "speaks" matter-of-factly, using little figurative language. She addresses a specific (unnamed) and absent person, and readers are in the position of overhearing a "conversation." This practice of addressing an absent person is called apostrophe, and it has a long tradition in Western poetry. The references she makes are familiar to the person she is addressing, but not to readers. This is in keeping with Howe's poetics. David Daniel quotes Howe as saying about her poetry, "Poetry is telling something to someone. . . . It's between them. It can't happen alone, without being said aloud. It's physical, social, erotic."