Themes from Turtle Island: Part 2

As I read a couple more poems from Turtle Island, it has become a little easier to see the themes that Gary Snyder has embedded into his poems.

The first poem I read was The Dead by the Side of the Road in the “Manzanita” section. In this poem Snyder describes many different situations where humans have hurt or killed animals. These situations include road kill, hunting, or pollution. One of the main themes in this poem is that humans have a direct and indirect impact on the lives of animals. Whether we are running over animals (direct) or driving “log trucks” that “run on fossil fuel” (indirect), we are hurting animals and their environment. This theme is also echoed in one of my sources as it talks about humans being more aware of their actions and correcting the wrong things we do.

The next poem I read was By Frazier Creek Falls in the Magpie’s Song section. This poem is all about describing a beautiful scene over looking out over a cliff or mountain top. Snyder is describing the land as far as his eye can see. The theme here is that we are a piece of nature and we should acknowledge that and live as a part of it. Snyder even says this when he says “We are it/it sings through us”. This also relates to one of my sources in that we need to realize the beauty of the environment and value it.

The last poem I read was the Jemez Pueblo Ring in the For the Children section. In this poem Snyder tells the story of a ring made by Native Americans that is found in our time. This ring was buried under an apartment complex and was only found after the foundations of the old place had been moved out. The theme is that if we start reverting to old customs and make life simpler life, we might begin to enjoy our past more. We can start to fully understand our ancestors if and only if we revert to our past ways. This is connected to my sources in that we need to consider where our future is going and how to fix the eminent destruction we are headed for.

In conclusion, these three poems all open our eyes to the possibilities of the future, and how we should view nature. Rather than live separated from nature, we should live in harmony with it. If we do this, then the future of our planet should turn out a lot better off than the way it is looking now.