Haunt - “But Tell It Slant: From Poetry to Prose and Back Again”
Cofer explains, “Sometimes, after I finish a poem, the poem continues to haunt me. “You are not finished with me,” it whines. “Give me a chance to explain myself.” This was the case with “The Woman Who Was Left at the Altar,” which eventually formed the nucleus of the essay “The Woman Who Slept With One Eye Open." The allegorical haunting refers to the inspirational impact of poems that inspire Cofer to transform the subject matter in her poems into essays. Poems motivate Cofer to explore details, which she could not include in her poems, in fictional works or essays. Poems enlighten her about the themes which she should explore in other genres apart from poetry.
Prayer - “The Myth of the Latin Woman”
Cofer explains, “I once wrote a poem in which I called us Latinas “God’s brown daughters.” This poem is really a prayer of sorts, offered upward, but also, through the human-to-human channel of rat, outward. It is a prayer for communication, and for respect.” Cofer’s ideology in the prayer-like poem is meant to underscore the essence of respecting the Latinas despite their skin color. The audience for the payer comprise the individuals who oppress the Latinas due to their heritage. Incorporating God in the title is a sign that Latinas to are God's children; hence, they should not be dehumanized through stereotypes and prejudice.
Cat - “The Story of my Body”
Cofer recounts, “My entire body, including the inside of my ears and in between my toes, was covered with pustules which in a fit of panic at my appearance I scratched off my face, leaving permanent scars. A cruel school nurse told me I would always have them-tiny cuts that looked as if a mad cat had plunged its claws deep into my skin.” Cofer suffers from chicken pox which diminishes her self-esteem. Equating her scratches to a cat’s underscores their visibility and depth. She is determined to remove the pustules, through aggressive scratching, which she thinks are detrimental to her beauty. However, the scratching complicates her problem by causing additional scars which would take long to disappear.
Frozen - “The Story of my Body”
Cofer explains, “The day the older brother chased me away, I was reaching to touch Susie’s blond curls. I had been told many times, as most children have, not to touch anything in the store that I was not buying…the moment is frozen in my mind as if there were a photograph of it on file.it was not a turning point, a disaster, or an earth shaking revelation. It was simply the first time I considered - if naively - the meaning of skin color in human relations.” The metaphoric freezing implies that the memory would not disappear from Cofer’s memory because it opened her eyes reading the effect of one’s skin color. The act of being chased away on the basis of her color is an epiphany which Cofer would not suppress from her recollection.
