“On the Subway” by Sharon Olds Essay In the poem “On the Subway”, by Sharon Olds, the Author uses descriptive language to vividly depict the contrast of a black and white, With the slight flaw that she is a white female. She also organizes the poem in a way that intensifies the deeper along the poem you get. Lastly there are multiple tone shifts that go along with the organization/scenarios of the poem. Olds creates contrast between the black boy and the white female by using descriptive language. From the first line the author calls him a "boy”. A boy has a connotation of infancy and vulnerability, rather than a man. Adding to that, he is black. In the history of blacks, there has always been a sense of superiority from whites over blacks,