The one poem that kept me confused even after reading it several times was "The Albatross".  The poem itself somewhat made since to me, but at the same time it left me with lots of confusion.  Starting from the very beginning of the poem I was confused.  "When I know you are coming home I put on this necklace." (Bass 1-2)  This line out of "The Albatross" starts the poem off with a since of curiosity.  "... glass beads on a silken thread, a blue that used to match my eyes."(3-4) These two lines just added on to the curiosity, the necklace sounds like a cheap home made necklace because it is made of glass beads and thread.  Besides the necklace, the description of her eyes had me very confused.  The only thing that I could think of is some people’s eyes change, depending on the mood they are in, meaning her mood changed knowing that he is coming home.  The next two lines of the poem thoroughly confused me even after reading over them several times.  "I like to think I am remembering you.  I like to think you don’t forget."(5-6)   Those two lines did not make any since to me and it annoyed me through the rest of the poem.  In these two lines I got the idea that the husband must have left her and the kid.  The reason I think this is because when she says “I like to think I am Remembering you”, it makes me think she used to put on the necklace when he was coming hone, but now since he is not there she still does this to reminisce on old times.  Then, in the last line she says “I like to think you don’t forget”, and I took that as her thinking he still thinks about coming home to see her in the necklace. 

The next stanza of the poem was much easier to understand, mostly because it was doing a lot of describing of the necklace.  She explains how the necklace lies heavy on her skin, and the way that is clatters when she reaches down to pick up her screaming child.  In a way, I believe the screaming child is in the poem to help understand how uneasy the whole situation is, not only just to the mother but the child as well.  “I swing her, roll her in my arms until she forgets.” (10) This line makes perfect since to me because I understand that the mother is trying to help the child forget about all of the pain and hard times they are going threw. 

As far as being confused, the last stanza of them poem was the most confusing to me.  In the last stanza, the man comes home and does not speak much, but when he does speak the woman says his voice sounds unfamiliar.  She explains that she is sitting in a pile of toys and unwashed clothes, so she obviously did not do any cleaning throughout the day.  When the man speaks, she explains that the child tugs on the necklace and the beads go all over the floor, like the sound of falling rain.  The only thing I can understand is that the beads falling create a since of purpose to explain that the family is falling apart.  Other than that, the poem just did not click to me, and the way it ended just leaves you hanging like…