Down by the pond, addicts sleep
-- The Speaker (Line 1)

Importance: The first line resembles the beginning of a storybook with its innocent tone. However, this quickly transforms as the speaker observes a harsh reality: unhoused addicts spending the night beside the pond.

addicts sleep on rocky grass half in water, half out,
-- The Speaker (Lines 1-2)

Importance: In these lines, it is unclear whether the grass or the addicts themselves are "half in water, half out." Ford allows this to remain ambiguous as the interplay between darkness and moonlight transforms the speaker's vision. These lines also introduce the theme of liminality.

and there the moon lights them out of tawny silhouettes
-- The Speaker (Lines 3-4)

Importance: The moon illuminates the addicts in such a way that engages the speaker's creative and associative thinking. The word "tawny" indicates an orange-brown or yellowish-brown color, and the warm hue suggests a living quality. The title of the poem ("Still Life") evokes an art genre, and this image...