Written as a letter to "Mother," the poem is about childhood sexual abuse and the betrayal that came after it. The speaker, who is named Joseph near the end, describes being abused at five by a woman his mother knew. Two years later he told his mother, hoping for comfort, but she "moved backwards" and left the room. The poem puts the blame on her, not only on the abuser.
The speaker's feelings are raw and unresolved. He is angry, and he admits he is glad the woman is dead and that she suffered. His resentment toward his mother hasn't faded with age. The repeated word "Mother" at the start of so many lines sounds like an accusation, almost a charge being read out. In the last stanza the mother complains he rarely visits and calls him "My dear Joseph," yet he keeps his own children from her because she dismissed his complaint. The mood is bitter, heavy, and painful. The simple rhymes make it feel blunt, like someone finally saying what he could not say as a child.