Structure

The work flows chronologically, beginning with the relationship between Anderson’s parents and ending with Anderson’s mid-life reflection on herself and her family, particularly the death of her parents and their somewhat untold stories. The early part of the work reads like a coming-of-age piece. Anderson takes on the perspective of a child, initially. In the pool she becomes a “mermaid,” a girl who lived in her attic serves as a “Mary Poppins,” and she rides “horses disguised as bicycles” (23, 26, 30). Such images bring about the nostalgia of youth and the voice of innocence. Yet this innocence is lost all too soon. The work is truly centered around Anderson’s rape when she was thirteen years old. This horrible tragedy occurs in the midst of her coming-of-age and sends her hurdling into pre-mature adulthood. As Anderson’s life is torn asunder, the piecemeal nature of the poems...