How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
your bald cry
Took its place among the elements. (2-3)
This is it. The baby has arrived. And it does so with a huge, bawling cry. Nevertheless, our speaker seems pretty unwilling to recognize this baby as a human being. It's something less than that. Sure, our speaker calls the baby's cry elemental – but then again, rocks are elemental as well. It's not that big of an honor.
Quote #2
[…] your nakedness
shadows our safety. (5-6)
Confused? So are we. It seems like this phrase could have two meanings: either the baby's nakedness emphasizes the relative safety of the adults watching it (and thus inspires the speaker to take care of the baby), or the baby's neediness impinges upon the speaker's "safety" – i.e., her right to live her life just as she wants. Is "shadowing" a good thing or a bad thing? We're just not sure. Our hunch is that the speaker's not sure either.
Quote #3
We stand round blankly as walls. (6)
It's like the arrival of this new baby has reduced the speaker (and those around her) to less-than-people. Heck, they're not even wallflowers. They're just… walls. That's not exactly a desired form of being – at least, as far as our speaker is concerned.