A blog for Jen Hofer & John Pluecker's 2014 IART Class
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Who is "us"? -- Abel's Question
At the end of the poem "Uptick," Sand tells the reader:
"count us with the former ice/
count us with the warming sea/
count us with the strident storm//
still, count us in"
To whom is she referring as "us"? And what does she wish to be counted into?
In my opinion Sand is reffering to the forgotten and overlooked movements of people throughout history. She relates ephemeral thing to the nature of people to relocate and move and leave behind artifacts of history, even if they are only memories. She speaks from the point of view of the transient and does not wish to be forgotten, she wishes to be counted and remembered in the history of that place and not to be paved over or disreguraded as being relevant.
I agree, she is talking about the movement of people who are overlooked. I think she especially wants to establish a connection between humans and the natural world, to count people among the things that are exploited or altered by consumer societies.
In my opinion Sand is reffering to the forgotten and overlooked movements of people throughout history. She relates ephemeral thing to the nature of people to relocate and move and leave behind artifacts of history, even if they are only memories. She speaks from the point of view of the transient and does not wish to be forgotten, she wishes to be counted and remembered in the history of that place and not to be paved over or disreguraded as being relevant.
ReplyDeleteI agree, she is talking about the movement of people who are overlooked. I think she especially wants to establish a connection between humans and the natural world, to count people among the things that are exploited or altered by consumer societies.
ReplyDeleteDid you (anyone/everyone) feel implicated or included in Kaia Sand's "us"?
ReplyDelete