Introduction of the Poem:
“The Freaks” is, again, another poem in which the poet does not find fulfilment in the sex act as she lies in bed with her lover. She calls herself a freak who pretends to be lustful in order that she may be regarded as a normal person.
Critical Summary:
As she lies in bed with her partner, both she and the lover wait excitedly for the sex act to commence. But the poet experiences a certain degree of disgust with what is going to take place. She finds her partner slow in foreplay as he moves his fingers over her body. He is not passionate or skilful enough to be able to arouse her to make love to him for the sexual gratification of both of them.
She then realizes what she has always known that her marriage with this man has failed. Even though they have lived together for long, they have not been able to achieve any conjugal happiness. She describes her heart as an “empty cistern” (in a lavatory) which will be filled not with water but with “coiling snakes of silence”, they hardly exchanged a word during the sex act. She ends up by calling herself a freak who pretends to be lustful while making love so that she is considered normal.
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