“Dark is a way and light is a place, / Heaven that never was / Nor will be ever is always true.” This poem is on the first page of this memoir. How does this poem relate to the story Walls shares?

This quote or poem is up to interpretation. My take is that darkness is a journey and it is only through darkness that one gains the knowledge to enter a place of light. For Jeanette, she truly had to travel through a childhood filled with darkness and strife to enter into a place that is light: the place where she has finally become the woman that she is.