(A) The Trees — central idea
Adrienne Rich describes trees moving out of a house into the forest, where they truly belong. All night the roots work to disengage themselves from the cracks in the veranda floor, and by morning the glass is broken and the trees are gone.
The poet sits inside writing long letters and scarcely mentions this great departure. At the end the moon, earlier broken like a mirror among the branches, is seen whole again in the clear sky.
Deeper meaning: The poem stands for any suppressed being — especially women — breaking free from confinement to claim their natural place in the world.
(B) Amanda! — central idea
Robin Klein shows a child constantly nagged and instructed by her parent — don't bite your nails, sit up straight, did you finish your homework, don't eat that chocolate. These endless orders stifle the child's freedom.
To escape, Amanda retreats into daydreams — she imagines being a mermaid drifting on an emerald sea, an orphan roaming the dusty street, and Rapunzel in a tower. All three dreams mean the same thing: freedom and solitude.
Message: Constant scolding makes a child unhappy and withdrawn; children need love and space, not endless instructions.
(C) The Ball Poem — central idea
John Berryman writes of a boy who loses his ball in the water. The poet does not offer him money for a new one, because new balls can be bought but the lost one cannot come back.
Through this small incident the poet teaches a great truth of life — everyone must one day face loss, of a possession or a loved one. The boy is learning his first lesson in responsibility and in the meaning of loss, and must learn that grief has to be borne and life has to go on.
