Point of View

The poem is told in first-person perspective using the pronoun “I.” It moves from present tense to past tense and back to present tense again as the speaker recounts the story of her life. Moreover, the first-person voice uses a very distinctive regional dialect most strongly associated with a particular group of people. This voice brings the character to life and allows the reader a glimpse into their mind, rather than simply reading an objective witness statement of events. The poem begins with a line that establishes the speech as dialogue: “Well, son, I’ll tell you” (Line 1). Instead of speaking to the reader or to the blank page, the speaker is addressing another character in the scene beside them.

Language and Meaning

The speaker of this poem uses African American Vernacular English, a dialect associated with working class Black urban communities. This speech pattern...