Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Paula Gunn Allen’s "Kopis'taya (A Gathering of Spirits)" is a meditation on the struggle between modernity and the spiritual presence of the natural world. The title, Kopis'taya, is a Laguna Pueblo word referring to a ceremonial gathering of spirits, signaling the poem’s focus on the unseen forces that continue to move through existence despite the alienation imposed by contemporary life. Allen weaves together imagery of industrialization and traditional Indigenous spirituality, creating a powerful contrast between the artificial and the organic, the rigid and the fluid, the forgotten and the ever-present.

The poem begins by situating the reader in "the browning season," a time of suffocation where "the heavy air [blocks] our breath." This phrase suggests environmental and spiritual depletion, where the weight of modernity has made simply existing a struggle. The phrase "living / is only survival" reflects how life has been reduced to endurance rather than fulfillment. The speaker observes that in this state, people "doubt the voices / that come shadowed on the air." These voices—likely referring to ancestral spirits, natural forces, or inner wisdom—are still present but barely perceptible. The poem describes them as moving softly, "a twilight rain, / soft feather’s fall, a small body dropping / into its nest." These images evoke nature’s gentleness, suggesting that the sacred has not disappeared but has become imperceptible to those who no longer attune themselves to it.

The next section moves into "the hardedged season," a phrase that conveys both the sharp angles of industrialized space and the emotional desensitization that accompanies it. The speaker contrasts this world—filled with "plastic brittle and gleaming shine"—with the unnoticed, yet significant, rhythms of nature. "We do not notice wet, moist, the significant / drops falling in perfect spheres." This suggests that while water, rain, and renewal still occur, they no longer hold meaning in a world that prioritizes artificiality. The speaker describes these unnoticed "tears, / soft as dew, fragile, that cling to leaves, / petals, roots, gentle and sure, / every morning." The inclusion of dew—a naturally recurring phenomenon that blankets the earth in moisture—reinforces the idea that nature continues its cycles despite human detachment. These "tears" could symbolize both personal sorrow and the collective mourning of a world disconnected from its spiritual origins.

The third stanza explicitly critiques contemporary life, particularly its impact on women:
"We are the women of the daylight, of clocks / and steel foundries, of drugstores / and streetlights, of superhighways / that slice our days in two."
Here, time is no longer fluid but mechanized, divided by work schedules and artificial boundaries. The phrase "slice our days in two" evokes fragmentation—life has been severed from its natural flow. The poem continues, describing how women are "wrapped around / in plastic and steel," living in a world of mass production that dictates their movements. The phrase "behind dark glasses we hide our eyes" suggests a loss of vision—both literal and metaphorical—as if the ability to see beyond the material world has been obscured.

The speaker emphasizes how modernity numbs the body and mind:
"Smoke fills our minds, whiskey husks our songs, / polyester cuts our bodies from our breath."
The references to smoke and whiskey may allude to the ways in which industrialized society encourages escapism, dulling the ability to connect with deeper truths. The most powerful image, "our feet from the welcoming stones of earth," signals the ultimate loss—disconnection from the land. In many Indigenous traditions, walking barefoot on the earth is a spiritual practice that fosters harmony with nature. Here, the separation from "welcoming stones" represents a severing from ancestral and ecological wisdom. The stanza concludes with a lament: "Our dreams are pale memories of themselves / and nagging doubt is the false measure / of our days." The phrase "false measure" suggests that the criteria by which modern society judges success—productivity, efficiency, material wealth—are illusions that obscure true fulfillment.

Yet, despite this critique, the final stanza shifts to one of hope and possibility:
"Even so, the spirit voices are singing, / their thoughts are dancing in the dirty air."
Despite industrial pollution, despite disconnection, the spirits persist. The repetition of "if we could listen. / If we could hear." underscores the idea that the ability to connect with these voices has not been lost—it has simply been ignored. The poem moves from lament to action:
"Let's go then. Let's find them. / Let's listen for the water, the careful / gleaming drops that glisten on the leaves, / the flowers."
This is an invitation to return to awareness, to seek out the sacred in what remains—rain, dew, and the persistent beauty of nature.

The final lines issue a call to movement and renewal:
"Let's ride / the midnight, the early dawn. / Feel the wind striding through our hair. / Let's dance the dance of feathers, / the dance of birds."
The reference to "the dance of feathers, / the dance of birds" is significant. Feathers and birds hold deep spiritual meaning in many Indigenous traditions, often symbolizing communication with the divine and the freedom of the soul. The speaker urges a return to natural rhythms, to dance as birds do, uninhibited by artificial constraints.

"Kopis'taya (A Gathering of Spirits)" is ultimately a poem of resistance and reclamation. Allen does not deny the alienation imposed by modernity, but she refuses to accept it as inevitable. The spirits remain, the signs persist, and the ability to reconnect with them is still within reach. Through its rhythmic shifts and sharp contrasts, the poem enacts the very tension it describes, guiding the reader toward an awakened sense of presence. In the end, Allen’s message is clear: despite the suffocating forces of contemporary life, we can still listen, we can still move, and we can still dance.

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