Identity

Acevedo imbues the entirety of the poem with the theme of identity, a mainstay across her poetry catalog. The speaker questions what it means to essentially have two sides of ourselves, to be pulled in two directions by our desires and the expectations others place on us. The protagonist implies she is discovering a voice she did not have before because she describes herself as having had her mouth “sawed off” and then “soften[ing] tongue songbird” (3-4). The songbird invokes an image of freedom and living independent of others' expectations, as well as the motif of joy and weightlessness. The thematic nature of the work is quite open-ended due to its short length, and Acevedo invites readers to think about their own changing roles as time passes and the incongruity that arises when we feel ourselves pulled in different directions.

Freedom

The protagonist, Nina’s...