McGuckian's poems mimic the shape of her "youngest, speedwell blouse" in her poem, "The Cutting Out Room."

The sleeves are full at the top,

McGuckian pulls us in and out of her thoughts and emotions. As readers, we experience her process of de-layering, as she attempts to reach the unconscious, and then her return to the conscious realm. She pulls us in, like the cloth bunched at her elbow, and then she sends us back into the conscious world, just as the sleeve becomes full again. It is a process of constant motion and learning. Self-discovery is the process itself, and understanding exists at those moments when we are "caught in at the elbow" and we can access the unconscious.