1. Which statement expresses the main theme of the poem?
It used to feel too big
and mostly abandoned, leftover land between
neighboring cul-de-sacs and the elementary school.
Still, I would visit its few humble1 stations —
[5]the cracked stump by the fence always crawling
with ants. The narrow space behind the garage
lined with unused slate, just standing there
waiting for my parents’ hands. Then there was the shady dirt
under the old maple tree where I read, cradled or
[10]sinking between dying tentacle roots.
Was there ever any glory there? I can remember
a few humid evenings through the crack of the back door.
Twilight hanging like a velvet curtain, the thinning
pine trees at least only silhouettes.2
[15]My parents would be at the top of the empty hill
sitting at the rusty, wrought iron table, in an orb
of orange candlelight. I knew they were eating artichoke
with hot butter, scraping off the meat of the leaves with their teeth
and just casting the rest away.