Summary

In “Last Look,” the speaker remembers the last time she looked into her ex-husband’s eyes as they said goodbye, imbuing the moment with symbolic weight. She uses mixed metaphors to describe his eyes, referring to oceans and their two infant children’s taste for milk. In his gaze, she notes a cavernous emptiness suggestive of his abandonment, described as “rooms of the dead; halls of loss” (14). They part ways, and years later, she feels gratitude for this last look, as she imagines loved ones of the dead must feel after seeing the bodies of the deceased.

In “Stag’s Leap,” the speaker looks at the label of their favorite red wine, which pictures a dear mid-jump, envisioning her husband as a figurative stag who has also escaped her grasp. This alludes to the title of the collection, a play on the winery...