The Air Smelled Dirty
Piercy describes people burning coal, called soft coal, in her neighborhood. It came from a mountain range in the west of Pennsylvania, the place where Piercy's father grew up and left when he could. Her Welsh cousins used to dig the coal in the darkness.
The coal fueled a furnace in the basement, and it was her role to remove the clinkers and dispose of them. In the morning, it tended to be chilly, with frost resting on the windows. Piercy liked to stand near the hot air, which blew up her skirt from below. However, she found the basement dauntingly scary at night. It was scary because the fire from within resembled eyes, peering through the door of the furnace, and the clinkers, when they fell, made a loud noise. The shadows of mice also moved towards her. She found the washing machine to be tame enough, but the furnace always scared her.
The Birthday of the World
When the world celebrates its birthday, Piercy reminisces on what she has done and ponders what remains to be done. This year, however, her agenda is not filled with rebuilding herself mentally or fixing friendships that are slowly fading or dealing with issues that are permanently there. This year she wants to challenge herself on her involvement in promoting peace.
She questions herself on how much she has done to promote peace and how daring she has been in the face of opposition to it. She contemplates where she has spoken out for herself and for others. In this holy period of time, she convicts herself of doing nothing lazily, when lies are ruining the mind and words are choking the truth. Standing at the gates, where she is to be judged, she judges herself. She asks for her words to be powerful.
The Cat's Song
A cat declares an object his, as he paws it aggressively. The object becomes a companion and a slave, as well as a toy, in the cat's eyes, as it paws Piercy's chest, as if seeking the milk of its mother from long ago. The cat invites us to explore the woods with him, to teach us how to read the different scents and hide in the shadows, disguised. He wants us to learn to trap and hunt too. He lays a mouse on the mat as a gift, trying to feed Piercy as she feeds him often. He regards her as a friend, yet sees himself as more equal than her. He challenges her, asking if she can jump twenty times the length of her body, climb trees or jump the gap between roofs.
He wants to rub Piercy's body and feel touch, as they discuss it. His emotions are solid and pure, like salt crystals, and his lusts are glowing, just like his eyes. He sings to Piercy in the morning, circling her bed and face.
He again invites her to join him, this time in dancing in a manner as common as falling asleep and waking up and stretching. His qualities are reflected upon:greed, fear, envy, love. He states than he will teach Piercy, and us as readers, to be ghost-like and still, moving like the ghost of wind.
