Summary

Chapter Two opens with the speaker’s declaration: “WHAT I DO KNOW/ is how it feels” (39). He knows how it feels when “that spirit thing / won’t stop / raking the metal mug / across your rib cage” (40), producing a sound that he describes as a “prison / revolt” (40). He also analogizes the prison guard to “that scared / controlling / oppressive part / of you / AND EVERYONE ELSE” (41). He explains, however, that he has no desire for that feeling to ever end.

The narrative switches to the second person and Reynolds writes that “YOU HOPE” the voice of your dreams “never cowers behind fear / and expectations that other people / strap to your life / like a backpack full of bricks / (or books written by / experts)” (43). In response to a question about what would happen if you stopped listening to that voice, Reynolds writes that “nothing” would happen and adds that...