Paperboy Poem Meaning

Paperboy Adolescence is a difficult transition in one’s life, a shift from childhood to the freighting realties of adulthood. Along with many uncomfortable decisions, teens deal with the most confusing situation of all: sexuality. This coming of age not only causes some uncertainty, but can also encourage the individual to see humans as foundations of sexual feelings. The twenty-eight-line poem by Melanie McCabe titled, “Paperboy,” uses abstract and often complex imagery to capture the ideals of the unknown lust hidden inside everyone. With new feelings come new responses, and such a forbidden topic as sexuality causes two very common reactions: confusion and desire. In stating that “At twelve, I could only see the seventeen-year-old boy/ …show more content…
She recalls “knowing [and] longing without knowing what [she] longed for” (16-17). The auditory imagery of each person’s voice is another interesting connection the poet makes. The much deeper tone, bass, voice of the boy completely overpowers the meek vibrato of the speaker (17-18). The line, “Desire/ outstripped my body,” is perhaps one of the most direct assertions of her true feelings for the boy (18-19). These feelings of lust are so strong that they not only occupy her every thought, but also fully embody her, making the feelings seem bigger than herself. The uses of imagery to describe the foreignness of the boy build a foundation for her feelings as well. Just as the boy is foreign to her, so are the feelings driving her appetite for something she has not experienced. Just as a splinter serves only as a mere annoyance, so is the girl to the boy (25-26). She becomes completely obsessed with him, to the point that she is almost a burden on him, although not deserving of rejection and dismissal. The use of extremely vague and complex imagery resembles the same feelings that come up with sexuality. The confusing lines, “There was nothing to see and no one saw it. In fireplaces, / crumpled news crackled and lit; red embers breached/ the chimneys,” convey the baffling and unknown experiences that the speaker encounters when interacting with the boy, whether they be on a civil basis or a more sexual one (25-27). The poem concludes with the image of a warped door. The speaker is comparing her newfound sexual desires to a “warped door that wouldn’t close” (28). The door is acting as a simple yet effective insight into how the speaker views her feelings and her experiences on a much more present setting. The entire occurrence with the paperboy unlocks a hidden chamber inside of her that was