How can I apply the theory of formalism to Lucille Cliffton's "There is a Girl Inside"?

Formalist
theory focuses on a work's or a
poem's literariness; what makes it different from everyday
speech. Formalists
want to distinguish literature/poetry from everyday language. Formalists do

not see literature as an exact reflection of reality, but an artistic interpretation of
reality.
Since formalists focus so closely on text and form, they attempt to
ignore or put aside cultural
and historical implications. This method has its
proponents and opponents. Opponents claim you
cannot separate art from
history, but most do not dismiss formalism as a valid literary
practice; they
just think it should be complemented with cultural, historical, feminist,
etc.
interpretations.

A formalist analysis would look at
the line breaks, the
grammar, the word choices and the themes as the poem
exists as autonomous; sort of outside
history. Generally, the poem is about
the young girl inside the poet who refuses to die; so it
is about keeping a
young perspective even into old age despite. Formalism does focus on themes

but moreso on the actual literariness of poems. So, what about the poem makes it a poem?
What
makes this poetry different from everyday speech? What makes it an
unfamiliar way to speak? One
thing is thewith €˜thyme where the narrator will
blossom into thyme meaning something new
(blossoming into; second coming) and
blossoming into €˜time as growing into the world of linear
time.

The comparison between the narrator and the tree, as well as the
woods
with other people, is an example ofor . It shows a comparison/ between
humanity and
nature.

€˜Green can mean natural, young but
also na¯ve, or new. A formalist
analysis would look at literariness and that
means finding the different possible meanings; as
authorial intent or reader
interpretation. Puns, metaphors, synecdoche, metonymy are all
elements to be
aware of with formalist analysis.