Non-Nuclear Families
This massive compendium of the poet's work commences with a long-form poetry cycle collectively titled "The Adoption Papers." Written in the voices of a birth mother, her child, and the child's adopted mother which are distinguished from each other by variations in typeface, this extended and intense analysis of the complications of non-nuclear alternative family structures sets the stage for what will be a recurring theme throughout the book. The title of the poem "Mummy and Donor and Diedre" takes this theme to the next level beyond simple adoption and into the sphere of conception without intercourse. Over the breadth of the collection are poems that specifically address issues related to alternative family lifestyles. In addition, a great many poems in this expansive collection that do not directly focus on this issue touch upon it thematically as being integral to the lives of the subjects. Ultimately, the pursuit of this theme seems to be making the point that non-nuclear families face the very same issues as their more-traditional counterparts.
Race
Race, for instance, is often the specific focus of poems in which alternative family units are an important but tangential subject. Only one title in the collection addresses the elephant in the room, "Race, Racist, Racism" whereas the connective tissue between considerations of race and racism is found throughout the collection. "Hottentot Venus" is a poem, for instance, inspired by the real-life story of an African woman put on display for British audiences because of the notoriety of the voluminous, non-European size and shape of her rear end. The resonance of the title "Gone with the Wind" and its infamously complex relationship to issues of race is a poem about cultural indoctrination with the speaker's assertion that "if you are black, / you learn to smile early." The topic of race is directly addressed, but racism is found in the underlying seething of the subtext.
Interpersonal Relationships
The complexity of interpersonal relationships is addressed either directly or indirectly in even the most unlikely of poems. "Dracula" is a piece of verse that seems to deliver exactly what it promises with a first-person account of a visit to Dracula's castle that becomes more menacing with the appearance of a mysterious figure in the shadows. The poem ends with the revelation that the whole thing has been merely a scary bedtime story being told by a father. The closing lines ask, "who needs an imagination, a fear, or a dread, / when what we’ve got is parents instead?" Opening lines can be just as jarring with insight into the nature of relationships. "The Spare Room" commences with the speaker confessing "When my lover found a brand-new lover... she asked if I would move into the spare room." The complications of family life, romance, and friendship are addressed again and again in confessional poetry which raises the question of how much of this collection is autobiographical and how much is merely inspirational.
