Exactly how steamy is this poem?
G
OK, so there are some bare arms in this poem. But unless a little elbow turns you on, this poem is pretty tame. And maybe that's intentional. After all, if you count up all the sexy witch costumes on sale around Halloween, you might get the impression that witchiness is purely a sex symbol. But that's not what our speaker wants to discuss. After all, but women have been reduced to simple sex symbols for, well, a rather long time now. And maybe – just maybe – that's why Sexton chooses to explore the aspects of the female outsider who isn't reducible to her sexuality.