The speaker describes a woman in gray who, they believe, has a wooden heart, something hard and lifeless instead of warm. The poem opens with that image and then adds another: the heart is wrapped in sticky threads of hate, coated in ink. The picture suggests something tangled and messy, and perhaps bitterness that has been written down or spoken aloud.
The speaker says plainly that they don't like her, and then admits the one exception. When the doorbell rings, she seems to become a decent person. The speaker doesn't trust this. They call the change temporary and say she tricks everyone, themselves included, until they come back to their senses.
The mood is wary and a little weary. The short, flat lines sound like someone who has seen the pattern many times. The final lines repeat the wooden heart, which leaves the speaker's judgment firm: a polite performance for visitors doesn't change what she is underneath.