The Speaker
As an adult, the speaker of the poem has a different outlook on life than her nine-year-old self. She claims to have spoiled the body they shared, pointing out her scars and careful way of moving. Over the years her fear of the world compounded as she became more aware of various dangers, including male predators. However much she fears the world, though, this speaker is sensitive to a child's outlook on life. She chooses not to cloud her nine-year-old self's summer morning with all her fears.
The Nine-Year-Old
The nine-year-old version of the speaker is a fearless risk-taker and has a boundless imagination. Nearly bursting with energy, she is the type of child to jump out of her ground floor bedroom window three minutes after waking on a summer morning. Her various summer ambitions include creating an ice-lolly factory, a wasp trap, and a den by a cesspit. This shows that she becomes very engrossed in her activities but will move on as soon as she loses interest.
There is no hesitation in the way the speaker's nine-year-old self operates in the world. Despite possible dangerous consequences (men in cars after girl-children, physical ailments and injuries, etc), she remains disinterested in what the speaker has to say. At the end of the poem, her intense focus is trained upon a scab she peels from her knee to taste on her tongue.
The men
Though only appearing in a passing line, the men in cars after girl-children loom over the nine-year-old girl's (and indeed, every girl's) childhood. All the magic made apparent in this girl's world (the projects she creates and the fearless way she moves) are darkened by this line about child predators.
