Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Simon J. Ortiz’s "What Should Have Been" is a stark, compressed meditation on historical failure, displacement, and the consequences of colonial ambition. In just a few lines, Ortiz dismantles the myth of Manifest Destiny, exposing the rot beneath the facade of success and progress. The poem suggests that what was framed as a great achievement—the westward expansion of European settlers—was, in reality, a bitter, hollow pursuit that left those who engaged in it spiritually barren, physically decayed, and ultimately lost in a state of "nameless namelessness."

The poem opens with a lament: "What should have been important and fruitful became bitter. Wasted." The use of "should have been" immediately sets up a contrast between expectation and reality. The language suggests a missed opportunity, a potential that was squandered. The words "important and fruitful" evoke the promise of prosperity, community, or even justice—ideals that might have guided human endeavors. However, this vision is subverted by the stark reversal: "bitter. Wasted." The abrupt shift in tone and the stark finality of "Wasted." suggest that what was pursued—perhaps land, wealth, or power—ultimately yielded nothing of real value.

The poem then turns to the consequences of this failure: "Spots appeared on their lung / Marrow dried in their bones." These lines introduce physical decay, almost as if Manifest Destiny itself was a disease. The imagery of "spots on their lung" evokes tuberculosis, a common affliction of settlers, but also metaphorically suggests the taint of their actions—colonization as an illness. "Marrow dried in their bones." reinforces the idea of depletion; marrow is the source of vitality, the essence of life, and its drying up signifies not just physical death but a deeper, existential hollowness.

Ortiz follows this with a depiction of madness: "They ranted. / Pointless utterances. / Truth did not speak for them." Here, the speaker portrays the colonizers as lost, speaking without meaning, their words disconnected from any real truth. The phrase "Truth did not speak for them." suggests that they had no moral authority, no legitimacy in their conquest. Their justifications—whether rooted in religion, nationalism, or the belief in progress—are exposed as empty rhetoric. The "pointless utterances" suggest that even they, perhaps, do not truly understand what they have done or why.

The poem then shifts to the journey westward: "It is a wonder they even made it to California. But, of course, they did, and they named it success. Conquest. Destiny." The phrase "It is a wonder they even made it to California." implies that their journey was not only arduous but also, perhaps, undeserved. There is an undercurrent of irony here: despite their sickness, their delusions, and the moral bankruptcy of their mission, they still arrived, still claimed the land as their own. The next line—"But, of course, they did."—reinforces the inevitability of colonial expansion, as if the sheer momentum of their belief in conquest carried them forward, regardless of the destruction it caused.

The words "success. Conquest. Destiny." stand alone, punctuated as if they are official proclamations. These are the terms through which history has framed westward expansion—the language of Manifest Destiny, the justification for the displacement and genocide of Indigenous peoples. Yet, in the context of the poem, these words ring hollow, stripped of their grandeur. Ortiz forces the reader to question whether what was called "success" was truly success at all.

The final lines of the poem reveal the true cost of this conquest: "Frontiers ended for them and a dread settled upon them and became remorseless nameless namelessness." The phrase "Frontiers ended for them." is key—these settlers, who defined their existence by expansion, by pushing into so-called "new" lands, suddenly found themselves at the edge of the continent. There was nowhere left to go, no more lands to claim. The sense of purpose that had driven them dissolved, leaving them in a state of existential crisis.

The phrase "a dread settled upon them" suggests that this realization was not triumphant but terrifying. The settlers, having defined themselves through conquest, were left with nothing but the weight of what they had done. The repetition in "remorseless nameless namelessness." underscores the void they now face. They are without remorse, yet they are also without identity. The repetition of "nameless" suggests both a loss of self and a loss of meaning. Having built their identity on the idea of frontier expansion, they now find themselves in a world where there are no more frontiers, no more myths to sustain them. They are left only with namelessness—a fitting end for those who sought to erase the names, lands, and cultures of the Indigenous peoples they displaced.

Ortiz’s free verse, stripped of embellishment, enhances the starkness of this historical critique. The poem’s minimalism forces the reader to engage with each word, each shift in tone. The lack of punctuation in key places mimics the relentless forward motion of colonization, only to collapse into the fragmented despair of the final lines.

"What Should Have Been" is ultimately a dismantling of the grand narrative of Manifest Destiny. Ortiz refuses to romanticize the westward expansion of settlers, instead presenting it as a failed pursuit that left them not victorious but hollow, not triumphant but lost. The poem reminds us that what is often framed as progress and success is, in reality, a history of destruction—one that leaves even the victors with nothing but namelessness.

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