Fire - “After Making Love in Winter”
The speaker states, “our bodies touch like blooms of fire.” The bodily connection between the speaker and the lover activates a passion (which the fire exemplifies). Even though it is winter, the passion materializes for it is prompted by intrinsic sentiments rather than the weather.
Harm - “Beyond Harm”
The speaker is assured that the deceased father’s love is ‘beyond harm’ when he/she states, I suddenly thought, with amazement, he will always/love me now, and I laughed-he was dead, dead!” “Beyond Harm” designates the perpetuity of the speaker’s father’s love that transcends mortality limits.
“Frozen river” - “The Fear of Oneself”
In “The Fear of Oneself,” the speaker states, “I think of the women standing naked on the frozen river, the guards pouring buckets of water over their bodies till they glisten like trees in an ice storm.” The visualization of the women in a ‘frozen river’ follows the speaker’s acknowledgment about how her husband trusts that she would tolerate any pain for the sake of her progeny. The imagery at the ‘frozen river’ typifies the agony that women withstand when guarding their children.
Light - “Earliest Memory”
Light represents an indistinct memory for it is “not bright, but deep.” The profundity of the light highlights immeasurable unconsciousness.
