Amanda!

An adult tells Amanda not to bite her nails, not to hunch her shoulders, and to stop slouching and sit up straight. In her imagination Amanda is a mermaid in a languid emerald sea, the only inhabitant, drifting blissfully.

The first adult stanza orders Amanda to stop biting her nails, stop hunching her shoulders, and sit up straight. In parentheses, Amanda's mind escapes to a languid emerald sea where she alone is a mermaid drifting blissfully - a wish for calm and solitude.

The adult asks whether Amanda finished homework, tidied her room, and cleaned her shoes. Amanda imagines she is an orphan roaming the street, patterning soft dust with her bare feet - silence is golden and freedom is sweet.

The adult checks homework, a tidy room, and clean shoes. Amanda's inner voice imagines being an orphan roaming the street, making patterns in dust with hushed bare feet. For her, silence is golden and freedom is sweet - a life without commands.

Amanda is told not to eat chocolate because of acne, and to look at the speaker when spoken to. She dreams she is Rapunzel in a tranquil tower and will never let down her hair - no one can enter her peaceful world.

The adult forbids chocolate, reminds Amanda about acne, and demands eye contact. In fantasy Amanda becomes Rapunzel with no care, living tranquilly in a tower; she will certainly never let down her bright hair - a symbol of refusing entry to the controlling outside world.

The adult tells Amanda to stop sulking, says she is always moody, and adds sarcastically that anyone would think she is nagged. The poem ends on that repeated "Amanda!" - the gap between adult perception and the girl's inner life.

In the final stanza the adult orders Amanda to stop sulking at once, calls her moody, and says ironically that anyone would think she is nagged. The poem ends without Amanda's spoken reply - only the adult's voice remains, while her real feelings live in the bracketed fantasies.