Climbing

What metaphors are used in Climbing by Lucille Clifton?

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In lines 6-9, the woman reflects on the different degrees of desire she has felt in her life. She uses the metaphor of the bowl inside her to represent this desire. The image of the bowl is important because it suggests food and hunger, something that reappears near the poem's end. Clifton mixes her metaphors when she writes that the bowl is "burning to be filled," but the image works because it underlines the speaker's lust for life and love.

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Climbing