I was vain of his / faithfulness, as if it was / a compliment, rather than a state / of partial sleep.
-- Speaker (January-December)

Importance: This parallels the theme of marriage and fidelity as a dream and delusion, complicating binary depictions of responsibility and abandonment. The line does not specify who is in “a state / partial sleep,” as both the husband and the speaker exhibit wilful ignorance. “Partial” also echoes themes of the speaker’s fragmentation and separation, both from the lost beloved and the self.

Now / that I travel the land of his sealed mask / of self in memory, again, touching / his contours, as if I am the singing blind”
-- Speaker (Winter)

Importance: The lines signify the husband’s obscurity and illegibility, referring to his visage as a “sealed mask.” The comparison also reflects themes of marriage and intimacy as a theatrical performance, necessarily constructed and mediated by social forces.

Had a husband, couldn’t keep him, / Put...
-- Speaker (Winter )