Response to "I Go Back to May 1937"

The poem "I Go Back to May 1937" by Sharon Olds is a reflection of how the speaker views her parents in their younger days now that she is older.  The overall theme is that despite the troubles her parents have had, some of which probably effected her, she would not changed any of them.

The speakers first describes her parents at their separate colleges as they are "about to graduate."  It seems as if he parents didn't go to the same college and lived pretty far away from each other.  The speaker describes the arch that her dad is standing under as "ochre sandstone arch, the red tiles glinting like bent plates of blood."  The ochre sandstone makes me think of a western state.  One part of this description that caught my attention was the description of the tiles.  She describes the color as blood, which in my opinion is a strange object to compare a tile too.  There are many other objects that are red in color that carry a more positive connotation.  Maybe she is foreshadowing something that will happen later in her parents life.

She describes her mom as carrying "a few light books."  The first thing that I thought was that it's not normal for people to have books at graduation.  Maybe this could mean she isn't ready for the real world.  She goes on to say "they are kids...dumb...innocent."  This adds to the idea that they don't know what they are getting into.

The second half of the poem describes how her parents are wrong for each other.  The speaker says "she's the wrong woman...he's the wrong man."  Then she explains that they both do things that they would have never though they would do and eventually they wish they could just die.  Then she goes on to describe her parents after they have met each other.  She describes her mom as "hungry pretty face" and her dad as "arrogant handsome face."  The description of her mom could mean that she has a desire to succeed or maybe she is not satisfied with the relationship she is in.

Perhaps the most important words of the poem come after the second description of her parents.  She says "I want to live."  It's a very simple sentence, but caries a powerful meaning, especially to the speaker.  It serves as a contrast to the lives of her parents.  For most of the poem the speaker has told about how unhappy and sad her parents lives have become and even goes as far as to say they wish they could die.  Her statement that her life is important to her despite what she has been put through by her parents hints that it might not be as bad as she has made it out to be.  The grass may not be greener on the other side so to speak.