 If/ she thought that was news,/ she was foolishly mistaken" ("A Small Step").The overriding theme of Appearances, however, is sexual passion, as Oden juxtaposes a loveless first marriage with a content and largely passionless second marriage, to a sudden romance with a younger man, to whom she declares "you / inhabit me like smoke / in a house on fire;" ("Query").It is a collection that hides nothing.