Descriptions of food, food preparation, and eating are frequent subjects of Li-Young Lee’s poetry. In “Early in the Morning,” the preparation of breakfast is done by the speaker’s mother. Cooking the family meal is her daily routine—a routine that is performed meditatively and with love. The speaker relays the process with an appreciative reverence; eating becomes an elevated act. Lee even chooses to capitalize the words “Winter Vegetable” in Line 4, making it a proper noun and therefore honoring the individual words and its important role in the family’s day. By giving the words such emphasis, Lee suggests that food-making is something special and perhaps even spiritual.

Steamed rice, sesame oil and other traditional Asian ingredients often appear in Lee’s poems. The inclusion of such intimate family practices provides an insight into the speaker’s cultural and culinary life. The figurative language of food also stimulates the reader’s senses, bringing the reader themself into a space of in-the-moment sensory mindfulness.

In the poem, the mother’s comb is a symbol of beauty and grace. Ivory carving is a Chinese artform where artisans carve intricate designs of birds, flowers, and other animals into hair combs. The comb itself is an art piece that embodies feminine beauty.