Three Poems

Not Just a Platform for My Dance

1. This fits into the theme of a vast and varied land because the author states how the land isn’t just where you live. The land is alive, it inspires, it breathes, and it heals.

2. The author views the land as her voice, her inspiration, and her teacher. She is closely connected as she says that it is her medicine.

3. “these flat-footed fields and applauding leaves”

4. This land is not

5. The theme of this poem is that we need to remember that the land is alive and not just something to be exploited.

The Lonely Land

1. This is because it describes the loneliness of Northern Canada and yet the incredible life and beauty.

2. The author views the land as an isolator that separates people from each other but connects them to the true heart of the land.

3. Cedar and jagged fir uplift sharp barbs against the gray and cloud-piled sky.

4. “This is the beauty of strength”

5. The theme of the poem would be the beauty of strength.

Survival

1. This is because it describes prairie life.

2. The author views the land as a cruel violent place where inhumane crimes are perpetrated.

3. “my father coming in, the guilty blood all over him.”

4. “There was never gentleness”

5. The theme of this poem is that farm life is not the romantic cowboy life but is instead a very violent and bloody life filled with death and pain.