Balances

in life
one is always
balancing
like we juggle our mothers
against our fathers
or one teacher
against another
(only to balance our grade average)
3 grains of salt
to one ounce truth
our sweet black essence
or the funky honkies down the street
and lately I've begun wondering
if you're trying to tell me something
we used to talk all night
and do things alone together
and I've begun
(as a reaction to a feeling)
to balance
the pleasure of loneliness
against the pain
of loving you

The last couple of lines, like most of Giovanni's poems, are always the most captivating; they develop a new meaning to the poem and force the reader to reread it. The narrator describes the common, casual balances of life, then transitions into a sub-love story which ends with a balance of "the pleasure of loneliness against the pain of loving you" (lines 20-22). The relationship has become bitter, causing the narrator to feel relief in solitude. However, he or she is unable to forget the unhealthy love from the relationship. The three literary terms used are enjambment, oxymoron, and paradox. Enjambment, a run-on line of poetry in which logical and grammatical sense carries over from one line into the next, is seen throughout the poem as well as free verse. Giovanni creates a story through her writing with seamless fluidity utilizing enjambment. The oxymoron "alone together" perhaps demonstrates the emotional distance between the pair, even when they are physically together (line 16). Finally, the paradox "I've begun (as a reaction to a feeling) to balance the pleasure of loneliness against the pain of loving you" illuminates the inner conflict of the narrator (lines 17-22). He or she struggles with the yearning for the love that was previously felt and the present, damaging love which is unbearable.