We tell the story every year—
how we peered from the windows, shades drawn—
The opening lines of the poem set up its conceit and establish the mood. The first line shows that the events of the poem are being told as a frame narrative. The speaker is retelling a story that has already occurred. The initial image of this story, the speaker looking through a window with the shades drawn, cues the reader into the poem's unsettling mood. It foreshadows that what is about to unfold will be something the narrator did not necessarily want to witness.
At the cross trussed like a Christmas tree,
a few men gathered, white as angels in their gowns.
This scene is one of the most overt depictions of the cross burning in the poem. What is unusual and strange about it is that the speaker's language choice appears to run counter to the emotional content of the scene. The speaker says the cross is "trussed like a Christmas tree" and the men around are "white as angels in their gown." The speaker does not remember these men fondly—later descriptions make that apparent. What these descriptions show is how the speaker is trying to erase these memories, taking away their power to instill fear and dread. It is also an interesting invocation of Christian imagery, with the inclusion of the "Christmas tree" and "angels," as these men are desecrating a cross by burning it. This behavior runs directly counter to traditional ideas of being a devoted Christian, as the speaker seems to imply.
When they were done, the men left quietly. No one came.
Nothing really happened.
This is another instance of the speaker downplaying the actual severity of an event. They portray the aftermath of this scene as if "nothing really happened," but it is evident from the tone of the piece, as well as the recollection of the event, that it left a haunting impression on them. The use of this language serves to make evident how their community and family try to deny the terror of this night. In feeling the relief that the next morning has arrived, the flames have burned down, and that they are safe, they try to bury its significance, treating it as if it was a bad dream.
