Some Afternoons She Does Not Pick Up the Phone

Carson uses ice as an extended metaphor to describe a mental landscape in this short, unrhymed lyric poem. The speaker is omniscient but self-effacing, which allows the icy physical landscape to occupy center stage. The speaker is not identified but could be the “she” from the title, who does not pick up the phone on some afternoons. Like many of Carson’s poems, “Some Afternoons” is spare in identifying details and invites multiple interpretations and readings.

Though landscape is extremely important in this poem, the details of place are not given. However, the reader knows the month is February. It can be inferred the action in the poem is located in the Northern Hemisphere, probably the poet’s native Canada, which sees harsh, long winters. The title of the poem foreshadows some of its thematic concerns, such as Mental and Physical Isolation. The poem is rich in atmosphere, its ice imagery inviting the reader into a cold, frozen world. The speaker’s tone seems distant, especially in the beginning of the poem, which paradoxically enhances the sense of urgency hiding behind it.