Summary

Poem 48. First person. The speaker narrates a conversation with “him” in which he asks what she does – not for a living, but “what drives [her] crazy, what keeps [her] up at night.” She says she’s a writer, and then caresses him in an arousing, attention-grabbing way. He describes her as “command[ing] attention.” She says she cannot help it (62).

Poem 49. Referring to “you,” the speaker says her beloved was not her first, but is the one that made all the others unimportant. Drawing: the phases of the moon, its waxing and waning crescents on the outside, a full moon in the middle.

Poem 50. “you’ve touched me / without even / touching me” (64).

Poem 51. First person. The speaker asks how “you” can turn someone who is a forest fire, like her, into soft running water. Drawing: a waterfall, above which rises a...