Getting Out: Cleopatra Manthis

This poem is about a divorced couple. As suggested to day in our small group discussion, I think that the first stanza could be indirectly refer to the attempts of the couple trying to have a child. As the poem continues on, it seems like this inability pulls them apart. Then, as they are divorced by the lawyer, they are still unable to completely let go. To me, this expresses that they still love each other, but for some reason the marriage won't work. The fact that the character is still "startled by men who look like [him]..." means to me that she still misses him. I also feel that the yearly letter is a way for her former love to express all that he feels, even if he may be lying in saying "I'm happy now." Although the topic for these poems was supposed to be tone, I feel they have thus far all dealt in some way with love, lost, or unrequited.