Simile

"I'm startled by men who look like you."

The poem "Getting Out" by Cleopatra Mathis contains a simile that really helps to interpret the poem. The excerpt above means that the speaker still hasn't gotten over her love for the man who she used to be with. "Heaving words like furniture" told me that is was an ugly break up. However, the woman has not totally let go of her memories of the man. It says that she still has pictures of good times that the couple shared together. "We held on tight, and let go," the last sentence, also helped me to interpret this poem. This means that they were in a very strong and serious relationship. However, at the end of it, they just gave up instead of trying to fix it and now they are split up.