Dear Bill, I dawdled answering your letter.

Marilyn Hacker

“February 25”

Dear Bill, I dawdled answering your letter.

My punishment—the postal rates were raised.

The mail piled on this table has me fazed.

I think of it as clearing up the clutter.

There’s somebody I like better and better

—she’s someone else’s lover, though, not mine.

She hides her blushes in her leonine

hair, that was more like tinsel than like butter

when I ruffled it—the feminine

of avuncular. She’s twenty-five,

but age is not the muddle of the matter

whose damp wings are unfolding now, alive

out of the chrysalis that I felt shatter

when I kissed her till heat split my spine.

● Scan and analyze each line. ● In bullet form, make note of 10 literary devices

the poet uses to convey meaning.

———-

Hacker, Marilyn

“The 25th of February”

Dear Mr. Bill, I took my time responding to your letter.

My punishment was an increase in postal charges.

I’m taken aback by the amount of mail on this table.

It’s like clearing out the clutter, in my opinion.

I’m getting to like someone more and more.

—she’s not my lover, but she’s someone else’s.

She conceals her blushes with her leonine.

Hair that looked more like tinsel than butter

When I ruffled it, it became more feminine.

of avuncular. She’s twenty-five,

but age is not the muddle of the matter

whose damp wings are unfolding now, alive

out of the chrysalis that I felt shatter

when I kissed her till heat split my spine.

● Scan and analyze each line. ● In bullet form, make note of 10 literary devices

the poet uses to