Summary
"-solo performance" concerns the topics of love, pleasure, and masturbation. The speaker addresses an unidentified "you" who is presumably her boyfriend. She states that he moves her hand between her legs. He then whispers for her to "make those pretty little fingers dance" for him. Unlike most of Kaur's poems which are untitled, this one contains what could be a title placed after the body of the text. This poem is also accompanied by a drawing of a dancing woman.
Analysis
"-solo performance" is an erotic celebration of pleasure. Like in other poems in the section called "the loving," the speaker experiences the giddy excitement of first real love. This love is characterized by positive, intimate, and physical connection, which is portrayed in "-solo performance" not just as a connection to a partner, but simultaneously as a connection to the speaker's own self.
In the poem, the speaker addresses an unidentified "you" who very likely is the speaker's boyfriend. He moves the speaker's hands between her own legs, but unlike earlier descriptions of sex in the collection, this one is consensual and pleasurable for the speaker. The boyfriend whispers to the speaker, "make those pretty little fingers dance for me." The use of italics indicates his speech, differentiating and emphasizing it.
Kaur is unafraid to address risque topics such as sex in her poetry. This poem also evokes masturbation due to the fact that the speaker uses her own hand. Particularly for females, masturbation is considered a taboo subject, and Kaur has been criticized for portraying "taboo" subjects such as female masturbation and menstruation in her work. This poem and others like it also break the stereotype that women who come from traditional households (no matter the tradition) do not engage in acts such as masturbation.
Though the boyfriend guides the speaker's experience, the poem is still called "-solo performance." This guide refers to "-solo performance" as the title, though these words are placed after the body of the text. However, "-solo performance" still gives the poem's context and sheds light on the way that being in a relationship helps this speaker get to know herself. Not only does the title of this section ("the loving") refer to a significant other, but also to the speaker herself. This speaks to a line in another poem in this section which reads, "i want to be full on my own.../ and then / i want to have you." The speaker in this section (and in the collection as a whole) navigates her interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships simultaneously.
"-solo performance" is accompanied by a drawing of a woman in a dancerly pose. The woman wears a costume comparable to a figure skater or gymnast, which contributes to the sense that this is a performance. The woman's arms are raised high and positioned like wings, and her chin is thrown back in ecstasy. This demonstrates the different way that the speaker takes up space in comparison to the speakers in the first section of the collection. Whereas before, the speakers were pressured to make themselves small or shrink themselves due to fear of unwanted attention, now this speaker extends her body to new pleasurable experiences.
