Ambiguity

Sustained ambiguity is the central structural and thematic principle of loml — not merely a device but the poem's governing logic. Every key word operates on two registers simultaneously: 'legendary' means both greatness and myth (something unreal); the suit and tie suggests both wedding and funeral; 'Holy Ghost' is both sacred invocation and modern slang for being ghosted. Angela & Uncle Jerry argue that the poem's unresolvability — its refusal to choose between 'love of my life' and 'loss of my life' — is itself the thematic statement. The speaker cannot determine what the relationship meant, and the poem refuses to resolve that question for her.