Choosing a monotonous rhyming scheme, the author mimics Mr. Cuff’s communication. Words are “stuck” and “rusted” showing that Mr. Cuff has lost himself and connection to others, “the boy reminded him of how stuck he was.” Written in the final stanza, the exception reveals Mr. Cuff has breathed his last breathe forcing everything to change. Death is the only true life changing experience, for when we have died we embark forwards to unknown. Life changes because we are either reborn or dissolved to the heavens. Losing our experiences and ourselves. Similarly this happens to Mr. Cuff, meaning that death is how readers know his state. Having lost speech’s connection that links us together, “Communication was a rusted hinge to Cuff” Mr. Cuff is ashamed of his true self, even afraid of it, “Like is the word” followed by, “I’m damned”. So, when being asked, “Do you really like boys?” Mr. Cuff sits “watching the dying sun” “stunned.” Trying to convincingly proclaim an answer, Mr. Cuff thinks, “There is just the word I’ve wanted to say but couldn’t say.” “But” reveals his self-rejection muttering “I’m damned” fearing that he cannot live with himself anywhere. Everything is amplified and worse because of who asks the question, his son, who he, “could have loved, but didn’t”, …show more content…
No matter how hard Cuff has tried to leave a section of himself behind. He never can. Cuff has never accepted who he is therefore can never fully close the valve forcing it to leak forever. Looking to switch dead-end however is a mistake. Dead-end fits extremely well because Cuff has nowhere to go and is “stuck” and cannot leave his family. The dead-end street reveals how dead he really has become meaning his “I’m damned” is literally and figurative. Transitioning back to the final lines of the poem saying the extent of his