The poem begins with the speaker stating that there are just not enough straight lines. This is a problem. Without things being flat and parallel, a building cannot function properly. In this particular structure, beams crookedly balance on supports thrust off the vertical, nails clutch at open seams, and the whole structure dangerously leans toward the miraculous.
In the next stanza, the speaker observes that someone has squeezed a living space into this rough frame. Following this short stanza, the next stanza describes a wire basket of eggs belonging to the building's inhabitant. The fragile white curves of the egg hang out over the dark edge of a "slanted universe." The eggs gather the light into themselves. The final image leaves the reader with a simile that compares the eggs to structures of faith.
