The speaker is an unspecified narrator looking back on two childhood experiences: the first as a baby, and the next as a young teenager. They embark on a journey of loss of innocence alongside their father, who brings them into the city. There the speaker encounters sights and sensations that make them aware of a new layer of the world they hadn’t understood before. Later, the speaker reflects on how they have been changed by this loss of innocence, having devolved into an erratic existence focused only on survival.