Hanging Fire Blog Presentation

Hanging Fire

I am fourteen
and my skin has betrayed me
the boy I cannot live without
still sucks his thumb
in secret
how come my nees are
always so ashy
what if I die
before the morning comes
and momma's in the bedroom
with the door closed.

I have to learn how to dance
in time for the next party
my room is too small for me
suppose I die before graduation
they will sing sad melodies
but finally
tell the truth about me
there is nothing I want to do
and too much
that has to be done
and momma's in the bedroom with the door closed.

Nobody even stops to think
about my side of it
I should have been on Math Team
my marks were better than his
why do I have to be
the one
wearing braces
I have nothing to wear tomorrow
will I live long enough
to grow up
and momma's in the bedroom
with the door closed.

Analysis

The poem's voice is very strong here. Audre Lorde captures the essence of puberty and the process of becoming a young adult. That is why I believe this poem is titled Hanging Fire. This title suggests that the speaker is waiting for something to happen, and that something is finally being able to grow up. Being a kid is clearly torturous for her and Lorde uses this character's voice to portray that. We get inside a typical teenager's head, one that worries about what kind of clothes she is going to wear the next day or why her knees are so ashy. Most teens are self-conscious and this one is no different. This character also seems to be awkward and overdramatic as well which is a very authentic teenage voice. She worries about learning to dance which is scary for most teenagers, but she also blows things out of proportion as well. She is so over-dramatic she talks about dying before her graduation and how she is worried what people will say about her. It is so typical teenager, I believe Lorde captures it perfectly.

The tone of this poem is also important and the diction helps set the tone. This teenager is just flat out worrying about everything which is what a lot of teenagers do. You get the sense of worry throughout this poem. She is stressed and the tone really portrays that. The diction sets this tone because the speaker makes generalizations such as, "nobody even stops to think about my side of it," and how her skin has "betrayed," her. She is very overdramatic which is characteristic of a teenager.

The imagery of the mother plays a big part in this poem as well. This line is repeated all throughout the poem, "and momma's in the bedroom with the door closed." I find this interesting because it is very ambiguous. I think it is representative of the fact that this speaker has to grow up alone which is a very hard thing to do. Puberty is a time of self-discovery yes, and I believe the speaker is commenting on the fact that one can't rely on another person to find one's self which is why the mother was locked up in the bedroom. Puberty is a journey that one must go through by themselves. Another way to look at the imagery of the locked up mother is that her mother just wasn't there in the first place. Her mother could have been an absent figure in her life and that is a scary thing (to grow up without the guidance of a motherly figure). I think this really impacted her so she reminds herself and the reader of it at the end of every stanza. She was probably hurt by the fact that her mother was absent and so she reflects on it everytime she needs help.