The speaker traces a love that returns again and again across what seem to be different lives, with the beloved's hair color changing each time. At first the love is one-sided, then sweet, then consuming. The speaker stays in a relationship that burns, calling it warmth, and learns to apologize for things that may not be their fault. The beloved's moods swing sharply, from screaming behind a locked door to smiling, well rested, while the speaker stays up all night. The poem suggests an unhealthy, controlling bond.
Even after death, the beloved keeps a grip. The speaker dyes their own hair in all the old colors, as if carrying the person around. Then comes blonde, a moment of freedom that feels easy but sickening, perhaps because the speaker can't quite trust it. The last line, with both people reborn and hair buzzed short, feels like a clean slate, though "the sixth first time" hints at a pattern that keeps repeating. The mood is bittersweet, uneasy, and darkly tender.