Romance
In this poem, Dove refers to expectations for romance created by tropes in media; she describes a stereotypical medieval romance. The speaker also reflects on her earlier romantic experiences, during which boys whom she associates with candy due to their sweetness and ephemerality serve no purpose other than to "kiss you senseless." This part of the poem describes an approach to relationships that is more physical and fast-moving. Finally, the speaker describes her current romantic partner by location rather than by any personal descriptors. "You're bunkered in your/Aerie, I'm perched in mine/(Twin desks, computers, hardwood floors)," the speaker says. These objects represent the ways this couple has integrated each other fully into one another's lives. Even when he is in a different room, the speaker feels her partner's presence and dawdles in her thoughts about him in order to avoid any melancholic or arduous realities; just knowing he is nearby can stave off those unpleasant sensations. The speaker cherishes the feeling of safety her relationship gives her, the relationship provides more than just comfort. The speaker's partner can be in the background of her home and the foreground of her mind, and she feels content and grateful rather than encroached upon.
The Mundane
Mundane objects are remarked upon over and over in this poem. In the first stanza the speaker says, "This lamp, the wind-still rain, the glossy blue/My pen exudes, drying matte, upon the page." In the following stanza, she mentions "compact discs/And faxes" as representatives of the polished, increasingly mechanical culture that characterized the everyday and professional lives of people in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. In the same stanza she compares her old romantic interests to licorice candy in that they were sweet, empty, and quickly consumed. The final stanza mentions "(Twin desks, computers, hardwood floors)" when describing the separate home offices of the speaker and her partner.
The speaker does appear slightly critical of the compact discs and the fax machines, using them to call the modern world "all business." Otherwise, however, her descriptions of mundane objects do not appear to criticize them, nor to make them seem unimportant in contrast with her love for her partner. Rather, she describes them with care; the tone used when the speaker describes the pen ink drying is one of fascination and affection. The description of the offices, with their "twin desks, computers, hardwood floors" is simple and matter-of-fact, but the way the speaker instinctively notes the likeness between the two offices highlights her closeness to her partner. While she does not miss any of the boys she used to date, comparing them to candy endows the memories with sweetness, and since most readers associate candy with childhood, the memory is imbued with nostalgia. This poem shows the speaker's appreciation and love for the mundane as much as it does her appreciation and love for her partner.
Defensiveness
This poem is called "Cozy Apologia," and the word "apologia" indicates that Dove intends to defend something with this poem. This defensiveness does not appear in the poem until the final stanza, when the speaker expresses embarrassment about the happiness she feels. She levies attacks at her own happiness, asking, "Who's satisfied simply with what's good for us, / When has the ordinary ever been news?" However, she leaves these questions hanging, coming to the easy conclusion that thoughts about her partners are the only ones that occupy her mind enough to block out depression or boredom. The poem at large works to justify the speaker's happiness in her relationship by illustrating the safety she feels and the way her partner, to her, would fit easily into the role of any hero if they were suddenly to be placed in a romance novel or movie.
