Some Days

In the first line of the poem, the speaker “put[s] people in their places at the table” (Line 1). In American society, tables are seen as anchors and as a symbol for meetings—whether formal or informal, professional, or familial, most people gather at a table at some point in their day. Tables are where decisions are made, days are discussed, and a lot of roles within society are played out. People eat dinner with family around a table where they embody their role within the family unit; often, meetings are held at tables where people hold professional roles. The speaker literally “puts people in their places” (Line 1) by “fix[ing] them into […] wooden chairs” (Line 4). The speaker both literally and figuratively decides where each person belongs. People are figuratively put into place—where they belong in relation to other people and within society. When the speaker is the one being controlled, they are “lowered into the dining room of a dollhouse / to sit with the others at the long table” (Lines 11-12). The speaker is put “at the long table” (Line 12) “with the others” (Line 12) because they are one of the others—a member of a society.