Love

If there is a theme of love in “One Is One,” it is not obvious. Readers have to dig for it. Once the digging begins, readers probably will conclude that there is no other emotion that could arouse a person as much as the speaker of this poem is aroused. What other emotion could wreck and shock a person stiff? What other feeling would make the speaker of this poem want to starve her heart and lock it in a cage?

The closest the speaker comes to expressing love is when she uses the word “joy” in the last line of the poem. She challenges her heart at this point to be one with her and to be strong enough to take on the test that joy will bring. It is very likely that the speaker is reflecting, in these last words of the poem, on the trials...