How we cite our quotes: line
Quote #4
and I am sweating a lot by now and thinking of
leaning on the john door in the 5 SPOT
while she whispered a song along the keyboard
to Mal Waldron and everyone and I stopped breathing (lines 26-29)
Again, we don't know what role Holiday's death plays in the speaker's intense "sweating." Remember: it's a hot day in July, so he's probably sweating anyway. The poem plays with our expectation that it will be "about" death.