I read the
poem as an announcement in the voice of an older woman. The message is that the older woman will
not embrace the social expectations of old age, which require her to be non-sexual. Instead, in
her advanced age, she will embrace her youthful self, though the courage she feels with age will
allow her to express her sexuality and her needs in ways that she could not as a girl or a young
woman.
The poem's use of voice is tricky. We do not know if it is the older
woman speaking, or a distant omniscient narrator. It is certainly not the girl speaking, because
that persona is referenced as "she."
The first stanza is a
description of the boldness that lies within:
There is a
girl inside.
She is randy as a wolf.
She will not walk away and leave these
bones
to an old woman.
It is interesting that
Clifton casts this young persona as a "girl," and not as a "young woman"
which is the clearest opposite to an "old woman." A girl is generally considered too
young to be sexual, though the...
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