Multifaceted — Summary

Dave BontaRomantic

in matters of passion I should have been a fly

I have grown many hands and eyes

to meet the sweet weather of her selves

Show the whole poemHide the poem

Learn Poems app

Try the Learn Poems app

Everything from the website trainer, and more: new exercises, voice recording and sharing, reminders, quick review.

The speaker says that when it comes to passion, he should have been a fly. A fly has compound eyes and busy, clinging legs, so the wish is really about wanting more ways to see and touch. In the next lines he says he has grown "many hands and eyes," as if love has already changed him into something like that creature. The title, "Multifaceted," fits both sides of the picture: a fly's eye is made of many facets, and the woman he loves seems to have many facets too.

The last two lines turn her into weather. Her "selves" are changeable, and he calls that weather "sweet," which tells us he welcomes every shift in her. The mood is playful and tender, with a little humor in the fly comparison. Underneath it is real devotion: he wants to take in all of her, not just one version. The poem suggests that loving someone fully means paying attention in many directions at once.

Read also

More by Dave Bonta

All poems
ContemplativeDave Bonta

Plea bargain

I hear half a beat of drum to serve time have half a hope in the meantime praise God
DreamyDave Bonta

Cibola 3

I awake in the dark and shake free of sheets & blankets, of down-filled quilt. The rituals of waking– the long, hot shower, the coffee–give
ContemplativeDave Bonta

In good light

On a maple’s pale bark, a zigzag ladder—old tooth-marks from a wandering snail? Green islands of moss