Brosemer's speaker is stuck. They badly want to talk to someone they love, but something holds them back: they are still healing, and the other person seems unsure of what they want. The speaker fears that speaking now would only cause more hurt, since both of them are confused.
The poem keeps circling back to the same question, "how can I?", which appears at the start and returns near the end. That repetition makes the mood feel like waiting, even paralysis. Tender images, like holding the person and lying under the stars, sit beside a run of lines that begin "I hate," though the speaker admits they cannot truly hate the other person. The anger seems to come from frustration, and from fear of making the first move.
The ending is quiet and a little sad. The speaker still loves, still hopes, and hands the decision over: "The choice is yours."