Getting Out

Cleopatra Mathis' poem titled: Getting Out explores the toll divorce can have on a couple, in this case, who find it hard to truly leave one another and still have underlying love always for the other. The author embeds similes into the text to describe the nature of the couple while still undergoing the divorce process. "Walking like inmates,"(Mathis,896) suggests the speaker feels confined and imprisoned. Also, this suggests that the speaker may perhaps feel lost and troubled, dealing for the first time experience of each of them leaving the other they love. The bittersweet nature of the poem and word choice give the idea and set the tone of the speaker as being slightly regretful or melancholy over the divorce, which is strange considering most divorces are an intentional act to get away and end things with the spouse. The word usage like: "We held on tight,"(Mathis,896) show the author's hesitance to let go of the one they still love. Also, when the speaker mentions still seeing her spouse among the faces of other men, reveal he is still on her mind and that she still thinks of him often, even though it has been established that they reside on different ends of the map. Overall, as a reader, I sympathised with the couple's situation, wanting them to stay together instead of having to face the pains of being apart.