Poetry
For the protagonist of "Cancer Poems," poetry represents a sense of salvation and hope. Despite her unfortunate circumstances, she is able to find comfort in poetry.
The Tudors
For the narrator of "Breathe," the TV Show The Tudors symbolizes an escape from the pressures of the real world. Rather than thinking about her own issues, she would rather "go home, ignore my freshman comp homework, and curl up on the couch and watch The Tudors, the entire series for the second time." In a sense, this series also symbolizes the fact she refuses to face up to her problems and deal with them, which is reflected by her reluctance to join in with the meditation session properly.
The head tap
In "Another Breakup Song," the head tap symbolizes the fact that the argument has gone too far. When the couple breakup, the boyfriend taps her head a final time to confirm that this is the decision he wants to make.
Food
Food is another distraction for the narrator of "Breathe," who avoids dealing with her past trauma and emotions by focusing on what she is going to eat. For example, when she begins to have uncomfortable thoughts during meditation, she thinks "all I want is to get out of here and order a big gooey sausage-pepper-onion pizza from Red Boy and eat the whole thing in front of the TV."
Loss and grief
Loss is a key motif of this collection and is something many of the protagonists are dealing with. This can take the form of death or the loss of a relationship.
