This poem mainly represents the idea of changing identity because of circumstance. The woman in the poem is being destroyed by the birth of her three children. She is no longer a lively, interesting woman. She has changed to someone who only lives because of her children, and her life revolves around that factor.
             Her previous life, represented by her ex-boyfriend, has been lost in amongst her new role as a mother, and she has become someone different, disregarding her past, until she meets a past lover.
             She realises that her life has become something she never wanted it to be; she has missed opportunities, and her sense of self has diminished in amongst the lives of her children. All of her energy has been devoted to her husband and children, and when she sees her ex-boyfriend, she feels a certain resentment for her selfless giving, and wishes that she had taken another path.
             However, as a typical mother, she hides her feelings and continues chatting about her children, their birthdays and the like.
             The poem ends with the woman saying, "They have eaten me alive," which she says to the wind. This imagery is used as though her life is being 'swept away' by the wind, and nothing can ever be done to change that.
             The type of change that the woman experienced was a change in lifestyle, because of her circumstance, which, in turn, has changed her emotional and physical self, and the way she looks at and experiences life.
             The poem shows that people change over time, and these changes can bring about a change in priorities, image and identity. The woman seems to have a loss of self (caused by the burden of responsibility), and has lost her previous spontaneous nature and love of life, which she sees reflected in her ex-boyfriend. He represents everything that she used to be, and what she loved about her life. She may have been quite content with her life until she realised what she was missing out on a...