Necessities of Life

Rich envisions her youngest self as a “dark-blue thumbtack” (Line 4), an object described as a “small, fixed dot” (Line 3) that is constrained and insignificant. The thumbtack symbolizes the limitations put upon the speaker as a young artist and her separation from the great art around her. Rather than having the freedom to create her art on her own terms, she is “pushed into the scene” (Line 5) by others, without agency, so that she is “protruding / from the pointillist's buzz and bloom” (Lines 6-7). The speaker feels that she is not herself an artist but rather a tool to uphold certain artistic standards and expectations.

After the speaker begins her transformation, in an act of self-preservation she becomes “[s]caly as a dry bulb / thrown into a cellar” (Lines 22-23). A bulb that is so dry that it becomes scaly will no longer grow immediately when planted—instead, it needs to be rehydrated and specially treated first. By becoming unpleasantly dry and infertile, the speaker can protect herself from the artistic world. In the cellar, away from the artistic sphere, she can make sure that only she is using her gifts and potential: “I used myself, let nothing use me” (Line 24). The speaker regenerates, seeking the freedom to create her own sense of identity.