It was a dream

I think this poem has to be taken for its literal meaning. There are no similes or metaphors no hidden meaning. I do not think we have to beat this poem with a stick to discover its true meaning. I think the fact that we don't have to do this and that the author, Lucille Clifton, being so straight forward and honest makes the poem so much deeper and leaves a stringer mark on the reader. The first thing I noticed was that there capitalized letters except in the last line, "This. This. This.", when the "greater self" is telling the dreamer the things he or she could have done differently. I think capitalizing these letters was important because it puts emphasis on the last line and really makes the poem stick in your mind and thing about the things you could have done differently. This poem was definitely easy to relate to. I sometimes look back at my almost eighteen years of existence and wonder how things would be or if I would be a different person if I had done things differently. However, I felt like this poem dwelled in the past and looked at the things the dreamer had done as all pessimistic. I think we should look at our past and not always think "what if" in a negative way because our choices define who we are and whatever mistakes we made can always be atoned for as long as we learn from them.