Life is full of contrast and contradiction. There is nothing so sweet and juicy as a tree-ripened peach, yet the shame of a peach tree switch on bare young legs can be cruel and damaging. In the title poem, "The Peach Tree", Spier shows us how she learned to practice moderation for fear of allergy or addiction.

Spier posits one must compromise for the sake of all other human beings. One must curb one's desire for more and more, in order that all survive. She looks to her memories of art, tragedy, and the love of people gone by, for life's lessons in what the Buddhists call the "middle way".