Summary

In “Lame Excuse,” Shepard narrates in his own voice his apology for not being in class. He indicates at the end of the poem that he: “learned / my lessons / too late” (27).

The poem “How to Have the Worst Day of Your Life” describes the thought processes, actions, and words of a person woken by a phone call in the middle of the night. Because the narrator uses a variety of different options, this poem is applicable not only to Shepard but to other family members who have been woken with news that there has been a life-changing accident or incident.

In “The Journalist,” a journalist speaks his frustration with a peer who shoved a camera and microphone into the faces of Shepard’s family members. He thinks of how he could have killed her, an irony...