Can you help me find the figurative language in these poems?

Question

The whole idea of it makes me feel

           like I'm coming down with something,

           something worse than any stomach ache

           or the headaches I get from reading in bad light--

[5]  a kind of measles of the spirit,

           a mumps of the psyche,

           a disfiguring chicken pox of the soul.

           You tell me it is too early to be looking back,

           but that is because you have forgotten

[10] the perfect simplicity of being one

           and the beautiful complexity introduced by two.

           But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit.

           At four I was an Arabian wizard.

           I could make myself invisible

[15] by drinking a glass of milk a certain way.

           At seven I was a soldier, at nine a prince.

     But now I am mostly at the window

          watching the late afternoon light.

          Back then it never fell so solemnly

[20] against the side of my tree house,

          and my bicycle never leaned against the garage

          as it does today,

          all the dark blue speed drained out of it.

          This is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself,

[25] as I walk through the universe in my sneakers.

           It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends,

           time to turn the first big number.

           It seems only yesterday I used to believe

           there was nothing under my skin but light.

[30] If you cut me I could shine.

           But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life,

           I skin my knees. I bleed.

     

Answer 1

Hopefully this helped answer your question, Mary! Keeping in mind the theme of this poem— nostalgia, longing for childhood— may help you locate and understand more of the figurative language the poet uses.