Audre Lorde’s title, “Hanging Fire” is an idiom that means a delay in taking action. It originally referred to a malfunction in firing a gun, but is used to refer to many different kinds of waiting. The poem is written in the first person, and the speaker is the poet, Lorde.

One central theme of the poem concerns the Experiences of Adolescence, as the speaker explicitly identifies herself as “fourteen” (Line 1). These include the almost universally relatable experiences of acne and heartbreak. The speaker is upset about how her “skin has betrayed” (Line 2) her at the poem’s opening. This “betrayal” can be read as acne caused by puberty. This line can also be read as an allusion to Racism in America: In this reading, the betrayal of her skin is not simply hormonal, but also due to its melanin, or pigmentation. As a young Black woman, she is subject to prejudice as well as puberty.

The theme of Racism in America is further developed by the speaker questioning, “how come my knees are / always so ashy” (Lines 6-7). This particular “ashy” appearance of the knees—in which dark skin is prone to excessive dryness—is something that white people do not experience.