I see this intense imagery representing a dream not going according to plan, but is there any deeper meaning to it? Or is it just personification?

Lazy is used here in a positive way, it's showing how different blues is to other music, just letting someone vibe and create a wholly different and unique sound.

Staying strong despite circumstances? Staying true to yourself? Or maybe biding your time and staying positive.

Are the rivers a metaphor for experiences? I've known rivers or "I've seen some shit." It mentions specific rivers, and in the end "My soul has grown deep like the rivers," I've grown more wise and experienced over the years.

Ma is the personification of escape and happiness for these people, she's kind of like a vessel for their joy.

Ma becomes a ray of happiness for these people, they come to see her so that they can escape from something or feel some joy.

Others from all around come too see Ma, her actions are known by many.

Is this the speaker realizing her role? or at least the importance of staying strong despite her circumstance?

The speaker is forced to sew, going back to that first bit, nothing is wrong with the job inherently, but it's the forcing of the labor that causes issue.

Starting off by stating that sewing is a useless task, combined with the weighed down dreams, seems like negative reinforcement set upon the speaker by others, with the words "it seems," it can be suggested that the uselessness of the task isn't her own opinion.

Let us show the world our contents? Being still and sure of themselves is one thing, but now it's time to break that stillness and show the world what makes ourselves great?

Now the previous lines make more sense, be proud of what your are, even if, and especially if you are different from the rest, be still in your belief in yourself.

It struck me as odd that the title being usward, a play on words to move forward as a people, started off with the people being still, but this line makes it feel more like the stillness is in reference to their identities of themselves.

This sentence really stood out to me, the vocabulary of "fit to kill," obviously alludes to having a really nice outfit, but that particular use of the word kill to describe someone of color makes me feel uneasy.

I can see this being two different things, either a still born child, "be still, be still," or it could be a potential child, a mother debating on whether she wants a child or not.

This is the second time that the knocking is mentioned, a metaphor for for a child in the womb wanting to be born?

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Love isn't worth strife, love isn't worth war, or jealousy, or conflict, or ill health. Talking about love like something that can be sold is a huge contrast to how it is traditionally seen in poetry

I love how strongly the speaker's voice comes through in this poem, bashing the romanticism of love in poetry and comparing it to one's well being and separating the two

I love the questions the speaker asks, we as the reader can clearly see their ideology and how it clashes subtly with the rest of the poem

A metaphoric way of saying separation benefits society? separation of class, of race, of sex? People aren't able to mingle together and live peacefully?

It's at this moment where I start to see an underlying message in the poem, before I was imagining a literal wall and its properties. But this statement shows some hints of representing people or a society

What's the point in all of this desperation to hold on to youth? What does that dream do for you, what does that fear do for you? Is he chastising those that don't see the beauty in age?

Juxtaposing himself with the previous statement? Calling himself undesirable and ancient compared to those with young blood and those that are sought after. Nice way to describe the self.

This statement is small yet so powerful, the speaker talks of living life in the present moment and loving all of the little things that we often overlook in such a playful yet powerful way.

This part really gave me chills, I love that the reader wasn't outright told that the woman believes that it is herself that is trapped in the wallpaper, there were hints sprinkled here and there and it makes the big reveal all the more effective.

I love how slowly the tension winds with hints like this throughout the story, this has some aspects of a distrustful narrator and the seeds of doubt are planted for the reader.

This shows the relationship between the woman and John to be one of dominance on the man's side. She is seen as lower in class than her husband and this is accurate to marriages in those times.

Immediately showing the relationship between the woman and John, she's treated as lower than him which is accurate to marriages in those times

His outlook on life fascinates me, instead of pushing back and creating friction with the social norm at the time, he seeks out to maneuver through it and find a smoother way to coexist. I wonder why he has this particular reaction to other's racism, and what caused it.

It's interesting that he complies with this narrative that he's a problem, there's not really much anger on his part. It seems more like he's genuinely curious about why things are the way that they are.

It seems that the water in this case is being juxtaposed to his own inner turmoil, there's a lot of personification of the water and sand, but why use this image in particular?

Is this obsession of sequence aimed at trying to discover himself? It seems that his methods make no sense to others, as he cares little about some things and is obsessed with others.

This concept of ignorance has been mentioned a few times, is this a slight against the characters, or is this a way of saying that some ignorance is needed in the learning or teaching process?

This language is really aggressive, does this narrator have its own voice? It seems very personal for being third person omniscient

The constant repetition of the word lion makes me feel that the author wants the reader to focus on this part of the piece in particular, what does the lion symbolize though?

Is this an aggressive way of describing some sort of natural disaster? It seems like something like a hurricane or a tornado is being romanticized and personified

the voice changes from stanza one to this one, the words hit a lot harder and have much more impact. Words like pounded and sharpen really emphasis the pacing and voice of this piece

The connotation makes a shift from the first two lines. burlap sacks, butter, black beans, slate bread, none of these are necessarily negative things, but then words like acids of rage and tar come up