Conjoined by Judith Minty is a poem that represents a broken relationship or a broken marriage. Minty uses similes, metaphors, and analogies to describe the miserable union of two people and the inseparability of the marriage that these two people are in. Marriage; the poem’s subtitle sets the theme of the poem and it is only when one begins to read the poem that it becomes understood as an unhappy poem rather than that of joy and happiness. Minty uses words that with connotations that steer more to the negative side to describe the life of a married couple. Although she does not come right out and say what she means to say, the poem speaks for itself. Orson Scott Card once said, “Metaphors have a way of holding the most truth in the least space,” Minty’s poem completely supports this theory. Minty uses this poem to satirize and demean marriage by means of utilizing metaphors and imagery. The first example of her demeaning marriage is presented in the first stanza of the poem when she makes reference to the two onions that become joined. “Two joined under one transparent skin: each half-round then flat and deformed where it pressed and grew against each other” (L 2-4). When one thinks of marriage the first thing that comes to mind is oneness and unity, however, in this case it is the opposite. The two joined under one transparent skin refers to two people who have tied the knot and became one but rather than just coming together as a whole with no issues, they come together but do not become a whole. Her reference to the onion as a monster, in my opinion, reflects what has become of her marriage and also paints a picture for the reader. It has become flat and deformed because she feels as though she is being smothered and so the end results of the marriage is a monster. The two people in the union try to join together as a unit but instead get stuck to each other