There are only two lines in the poem that directly refer to the mother. Despite this lack of reference, the lines create a very powerful image to me, that she is a victim of abuse. The two lines, "they are waiting for the mother to straighten her lipstick"(11:749), and "her mouth uneven as a torn hibiscus"(23:750), suggest to me that she had just been slapped across the face resulting in her lipstick being smudged

The home of this family is one that has "an absence of sensation or feeling, a kind of paralysis"(750) brought forth through the wrath of an abusive father. One can only imagine the horrors that have taken place and the dark secrets that have been kept in shame and fear. The poem only allows a mere glimpse into the family's life, but an imaginative mind can see much more than a quiet Sunday dinner, it finds all the dirty little secrets so carefully kept hidden, and it sees a mother and her children victimized by an abusive father. Or is the poem nothing more that what it appears after first read, the poets portrayal of a quiet family dinner? A closer look will convince one otherwise, and have the reader thanking their lucky stars it isn't their family.

or maybe a bloody lip. I then picture her daintily wiping away any evidence of the blow to her face and forcing a smile as if to say, this isn't happe

Some common words found in the essay are:
Suzanne Berger's, Bind Fear, Gregory EN-102, College Publishers, absolute perfection, abusive father, brought forth,
Approximate Word count = 615
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)