Hurricane Floyd (Symbol)
The hurricane does not clearly symbolize one thing, but it appears to represent the chaos happening outside the confines of the speaker's relationship and stirs up old memories in the speaker's mind.
Blue (Motif)
The color blue acts as a motif in this poem, appearing at the end of both the second line and the second-to-last line of this poem. At first it describes the ink the speaker sets down on the page, but at the end of the poem the speaker uses it to refer to her feeling of melancholy. This suggests a connection between the speaker's work and her gloominess, since she escapes both of them by daydreaming about her partner and her past relationships. The word "blues" also of course invokes the blues, a genre characterized by great sadness, beauty, and powerful yearning.
Compact discs and faxes (Motif)
The speaker mentions compact discs and faxes as representations of the steady intrusion of these technologies into everyday life. They also represent how compactness and swiftness gained value in the years leading up to this poem.
