Character Relationships: Poetry Practice Test

Read the following poem and answer the question.

"The Stitch"

You sew my button back on

with thread from your own sleeve,

stealing yourself to fix me.

I watch your hands,

how they don’t tremble

until you hand me the shirt.

“Don’t mention it,” you say,

and I hear the plea

under the words:

Don’t name what this is.

Which choice best describes the relationship between the speaker and “you”?

Read the following poem excerpt:

"In the museum, you stand too close

and the guard clears his throat.

I pretend to read the plaque,

though your sleeve keeps brushing my wrist

like a question asked twice.

You say the portrait’s eyes are wrong—

"She’s watching for someone who won’t come back."

I laugh, but my laugh is thin.

You tilt your head and, without looking at me,

name the colors in the varnish:

amber, bruise, milk.

Later, outside, you offer your arm

as if we are old-fashioned.

I take it, then let go

when we pass the glass doors

and my reflection doesn’t match your pace.

On the train home you read.

I count the stops and think

how easily you can be beside me

and still keep your hands to yourself."

Based on the poem, which statement best captures the relationship between the speaker and "you"?