Embrace by Billy Collins

You know the parlor trick.
wrap your arms around your own body
and from the back it looks like
someone is embracing you
her hands grasping your shirt
her fingernails teasing your neck
from the front it is another story
you never looked so alone
your crossed elbows and screwy grin
you could be waiting for a tailor
to fit you with a straight jacket
one that would hold you really tight.

The voice within the poem is one of someone who feels naive and unworldly. She is forced to hold herself because there is no one else there - she has hit bottom, and although she tries to show others she is okay, she needs help, and not just any kind, but professional. "To fit you with a straight jacket, one that would hold you really tight." - the jacket would be the only thing to hold her as tightly as she needs. "You know the parlor trick" - everything she does is for show, so no one can see how she is really feeling. She wants to hide it from everyone, but is having trouble, "you never looked so alone" and everyone can see it, "from the front it is another story"