Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Marge Piercy's "The Good, the Bad and the Inconvenient" is a meditation on the inherent complexities and moral ambiguities of gardening, which serves as a microcosm for broader human interactions with nature. Through the lens of tending a garden, Piercy explores themes of judgment, necessity, and the often overlooked consequences of seemingly small actions. The poem’s reflection on the gardener’s role as an arbiter of life and death speaks to the broader ethical dilemmas that underpin our relationship with the natural world.

The poem opens with a stark acknowledgment of the gardener’s role in deciding "what is to live and what is to be torn / up by its roots and flung on the compost / to rot and give its essence to new soil." This introduction sets the tone for the entire piece, highlighting the inherent cruelty involved in gardening. The act of tearing up plants by their roots and discarding them underscores the violence and finality of these decisions, even as it acknowledges the cyclical nature of life and death in the garden.

Piercy’s next lines reveal that this harsh judgment is not limited to weeds: "It is not only the weeds I seize. / go down the row of new spinach— / their little bright Vs crowding— / and snatch every other, flinging." Here, the gardener must thin out perfectly healthy spinach plants to ensure the remaining ones have space to grow. The vivid imagery of "little bright Vs" being snatched and flung highlights the seemingly arbitrary nature of this judgment, as well as the necessary but uncomfortable decisions that must be made to cultivate a thriving garden.

The poem continues by emphasizing the arbitrary nature of these decisions: "their little bodies just as healthy, / just as sound as their neighbors / but judged, by me, superfluous." This judgment reflects the gardener’s power to decide which plants are allowed to thrive and which are deemed unnecessary, despite their equal potential for life. Piercy’s use of the word "superfluous" underscores the inherent subjectivity and moral complexity in determining what is expendable.

Piercy broadens the scope of her reflection to include the inadvertent harm caused by everyday actions: "We all commit crimes too small / for us to measure, the ant soldiers / we stomp, whose only aim was to / protect, to feed their vast family." These lines draw attention to the often invisible consequences of human actions, where even the smallest creatures are caught up in the web of life and death dictated by human activity. The ant soldiers, with their own purpose and community, become collateral damage, highlighting the interconnectedness of all living beings.

The poem then delves into the gardener’s role in labeling certain insects as "good" or "bad": "It is I who decide which beetles / are 'good' and which are 'bad' / as if each is not whole in its kind." This distinction, based on convenience rather than intrinsic value, underscores the subjective and anthropocentric criteria used to judge other forms of life. Piercy’s reflection on the beetles’ wholeness "in its kind" challenges the simplistic binary of good and bad, urging a more nuanced understanding of each organism’s role in the ecosystem.

The poem's conclusion reinforces the complexity of human actions: "By bad I mean inconvenient. Nothing / we do is simple, without consequence / and each act is shadowed with death." Piercy’s admission that "bad" is synonymous with "inconvenient" exposes the self-serving nature of many judgments and decisions. The acknowledgment that "nothing we do is simple, without consequence" encapsulates the overarching theme of the poem—that every action, no matter how small, carries weight and affects the delicate balance of life.

"The Good, the Bad and the Inconvenient" by Marge Piercy is a profound reflection on the ethical dimensions of gardening and, by extension, human interaction with the natural world. Through her detailed and thoughtful examination of the gardener’s role, Piercy invites readers to consider the broader implications of their actions and the often unseen consequences that ripple through the environment. The poem challenges us to recognize the complexity of life and the responsibility that comes with wielding the power to decide which lives are deemed valuable and which are deemed superfluous.

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