Stanza 10 Summary

Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.

Lines 37-40

What are all those
fuzzy looking things out there?
Trees? Well, I'm tired
of them and rolled her head away. 

  • Well, it looks like the speaker's grandmother didn't even know she was staring at trees the whole time. Her near-blindness and dementia keep her from recognizing what they are. To her, they're just "fuzzy looking things." 
  • The last two lines pay off the poem's title, and we get to hear the grandmother's last words: "Trees? Well, I'm tired of them."
  • It's almost funny, though in a sad kind of way. The speaker's grandmother gets in one more sassy quip before she goes.
  • It seems that it's her way of saying she's done with the world. She's seen plenty of trees, and she doesn't need to see any more. 
  • It's up for debate whether she literally dies when she "roll[s] her head away." But what is clear is that, with that final statement, she detaches herself from the world of the living. 
  • She's ready to go… wherever she's headed next.