I thought that the main theme of this section, that being the origins of poetry and how poetry manifested itself throughout history, tied in very well with this poem. While I was reading this poem I felt that I was opening a time capsule of the speaker's life, almost intruding as they used this poem to describe what certainly seems to be a difficult time in their life. It's also very visceral, I found myself cringing at certain sections and thought that that aided in helping the reader understand the speaker's pain.
I'd agree with Ella and Gabby. For me, too, what is intriguing about this poem is that it does seem to be preserving a memory but it is ALSO creating an experience in time. The sounds and music create a moment that starts and ends with the speaking out loud of those sounds and phrases. Nice work, ya'll.
I loved this poem so much and the way Sanchez remembers her past I found another poem by her. Ella made a great point when she said the detail in the poem shows how often the speaker thinks about these memories. With that in mind, I think its interesting to think about the way that constantly remembering her past in such a negative light impacts her self perception today.
I think that there is a lot of memory in this poem and a lot of imagery and metaphor that helps the speaker to share this very specific and personal memory with the audience. I also think the word choice and cadence also help this poem to go with the section of Nine Gates. The detail in the poem shows how often the speaker thinks about these memories, and it makes me wonder what other things the speaker left out that she doesn't remember or does not deem important. I also noticed there was a lot of contrasting images in the poem that give a sense of turmoil.