Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
Lines 9-12
She strikes and strikes the shrilly circling
boy till the stick breaks
in her hand. His tears are rainy weather
to woundlike memories:
- Apparently the woman has caught her prey (uh oh). She's so angry that she "strikes and strikes" the boy.
- He's still running around in circles, and crying in a very shrill ("shrilly") voice.
- This woman—sheesh. She's hitting him so hard that the stick breaks. (Think about that for a sec.) This woman is hitting hard.
- The boy is crying, and his tears are the equivalent of a stormy, "rainy weather" to… "woundlike memories"?
- Okay, first off, why "woundlike"? Is that even a word? Technically no, but this is poetry, and that's a simile. If somebody's memories are like wounds, that means they hurt. They're not the nice, happy memories you might have of, say, this place.
- Now, we say "somebody's" because, really, it's not clear whose memories are "wound like."
- Our gut says it's the woman's, but we can't be too sure. It's possible that the speaker is talking about the boy here, or even about himself. Let's read on…