The speaker is caught in an uneasy, honest moment of questioning their own motives in a relationship. They say they "pay as much as any" for a woman's "deep eye", which suggests her gaze or attention is something they value and are willing to pay for. But they quickly add that they don't want to be truly known. Being "buried in it" sounds more like being swallowed than understood.
The third stanza turns to vulnerability. The picture of someone "asleep with mouth open" is unglamorous and exposed, and the speaker wonders who will actually see that side of them. Then comes the sharpest moment: "am I the whore here." The speaker turns the accusation on themselves, suggesting their desire is "full of convenience", something that takes what it wants without real commitment.
The mood is guarded, self-critical, and a little uncomfortable. The short lines and missing punctuation make it feel like thoughts arriving unedited. The title, "Stiff," seems to hint at physical desire, though the poem itself never says so directly.