The poem describes a girl named Amanda and her mother who is harassing her for her mistakes. She is first scolded by her mother for biting her nails and not sitting in the right position.
The mother also feels that Amanda sits in a very sluggish manner. At the same time, Amanda thinks herself to be a mermaid who lives a peaceful and soothing life in the beautiful green sea. Then she gets nagged for keeping her room and shoes untidy and for not doing her homework. She imagines that she was an orphan. She is fed up of being watched by her parents constantly.
She wants to enjoy her freedom, by making the patterns of her bare feet on the sand and live a peaceful life. Amanda is then scolded for eating too many chocolates as they are a source of pimples.
She is also scolded for not listening to her mother. So, she thinks of being Rapunzel, a character from the fairy tale and wants to live in a huge tower like her. In the tower she would be alone and will live a peaceful life and will never allow anyone to come in.
Finally, the mother asks her to stop being temperamental because she did not want anyone to blame her for distressing her daughter. The poet does not write any response from Amanda’s side.
This habitual nagging had made her so gloomy that she had even stopped imagining herself as someone else. She wanted to escape the nonstop irritation and authority of her parents.