Answer: One possible theme of “Hanging Fire” by Audre Lorde is the anxiety and uncertainty of adolescence. The speaker of the poem is a fourteen-year-old girl who expresses her fears and worries about growing up, dying, and being alone. The title of the poem, “Hanging Fire”, suggests that the speaker is in a state of suspense, waiting for something to happen, but not knowing what or when. This is supported by the repeated references to waiting and dying throughout the poem. For example, in the first stanza, the speaker says “what if I die / before morning” and “I have to learn how to dance / in time for the next party”. In the second stanza, she says “suppose I die / before graduation” and “I have nothing to wear tomorrow”. In the third stanza, she says “will I live long enough / to grow up”. These lines show that the speaker is constantly thinking about the future, but also fearing that she might not have one. She is also waiting for someone to help her or comfort her, but her mother is always in the bedroom with the door closed. This phrase is repeated at the end of each stanza, emphasizing the speaker’s isolation and lack of guidance. The speaker feels that she has no one to talk to or understand her, and that she has to face her problems alone. Therefore, the theme of waiting in “Hanging Fire” reflects the speaker’s experience of being a teenager, caught between childhood and adulthood, and feeling insecure and anxious about herself and her life.