"I Was Stolen"

"I was Stolen", by Charle Simic is a great example of a surrealist poem. The speaker is living in two worlds, one which is reality and one which is fantasy. In which world is he happier, and why does he have the need for an alternate life? It appears that he is bored with his "silver spoon" upbringing and is longing for the mystery and adventure associated with the lives of gypsies. The speaker of the poem is a child, probably an adolescent, struggling with growing up in an austere environment. The line "One of my fathers was singing in the bathtub; the other one was painting a live sparrow the colors of a tropical bird.", is a real enigma. Which father was which? Was the father of his real life longing for the same things as him; could he be the one painting a live sparrow? The author leaves this open to individual interpretation and provides excellent visual images scattered throughout the lines of the poem.