Reference no: EM133234961
In what ways does the poem utilize setting? How does the poem's setting interplay with the rest of the poem? What language and diction does the poet use to create that setting?
Patricia Smith
Listening at the Door
Beneath the door, I could practically see
the wretched slither of tobacco and English Leather.
Hiding on the other side, I heard Mama giggle
through clenched teeth, which meant potential
husband sitting spitshined on our corduroy couch.
The needle hit that first groove and I wondered
why my mama had chosen the blues,
wrong, Friday-angled, when it was hope
she needed. I pressed my ear against the door,
heard dual damp panting, the Murphy bed squeal,
the occasional directive,
the sexless clink of jelly jar glasses.
What drove me to listen on those nights
when my mother let that fragrant man in,
banished me to the back of the apartment,
pretended she could shine above hurting?
I'd rest my ear against the cool wood all night
as she flipped through the 45s -
looking for Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder,
somebody blind this time,
somebody crawling on his knees toward love.