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Hanging Fire - College Essay

Hanging Fire

Hanging Fire by Audre Lorde

I am fourteen
and my skin has betrayed me
the boy I cannot live without
still sucks his tumb
in secret
how come my knees are
always so ashy
what if I die
before the morning comes
and momma's in the bedroom
with the door closed.

I have to learn how to dance
in time for the next party
my room is too small for me
suppose I de before graduation
they will sing sad melodies
but finally
tell the truth about me
There is nothing I want to do
and too much
that has to be done
and momma's in the bedroom
with the door closed.

Nobody even stops to think
about my side of it
I should have been on Math Team
my marks were better than his
why ...

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afraid that the truth about her will be revealed when she dies. She does not know when she will die, or how much time will pass, and there is "too much/ that has to be done" according to the second stanza (lines 20-21 ). In essence, she is "holding" fire. How much time will pass before her gun or "the truth" will explode? The answer to this question lies not in the speaker's literal death, but in the death of her silence. She must resolve to identify all the parts of herself, especially that which she has kept hidden, not only from the reader, but possibly from ...

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Hanging Fire. (2011, May 18). Retrieved January 22, 2025, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Hanging-Fire/99263

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 5/18/2011 03:06:04 PM
Submitted By: jayute45
Category: Poetry & Poets
Type: Free Paper
Words: 338
Pages: 2

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