Poetry Outline #2: "When in Rome" by Mari Evans

Question: Who are the two speakers? What is the situation? Why are the second speaker's words enclosed in parentheses?

1) The two speakers in the poem seem to have an "awkward, distant great-aunt and young, hard-to-please teenager" relationship. It also seems to be a type of one-way relationship in the sense that one of the speakers seems to be more fond of the other.
A) "Mattie dear" (1): "..., dear" is a phrase most often used by an older generation to a person of a younger generation. The affection in the phrase also makes it seem like they are possibly related to one another. They at least care for the other speaker in some way, otherwise they would not be addressing them with a term of endearment.
B) The other speaker, who appears to be younger, seems very hard to please. To every food that the first speaker offers, they reply with some sort of discontentment, obviously not pleased. This gives the idea that perhaps this is young person who is filled with teenage angst.

2) The situation seems to be a young person who visits an older person they know who lives in Rome. The first speaker seems rather delighted by the presence of the second speaker, but the second speaker not so much. The first speaker offers the other (what they believe to be) a generous amount of delicious food. However, the second speaker seems disappointed by the lack of meat, black-eyed peas, and the first speaker's idea of delicious food. The second speaker asks (with tremendous attitude), "What she think, she got --- a bird to feed?" (24-25). Clearly, this person is not pleased with the first speaker's hospitality, or lack thereof.

3) The second speaker's words are enclosed by parentheses most likely because they are the thoughts inside of their head.
A) On the outside, this person is probably fake-smiling and nodding , pretending to be satisfied with what the other speaker is saying. Or perhaps not offering any reaction at all, but at least in their mind they are speaking their true feelings of displeasure.
B) Perhaps the second speaker is reading a letter left to them by the first and in their mind as they read, they are having these thoughts. "Mattie dear" (1) may be the address at the beginning of the note.