Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Linda Hogan's "Calling Myself Home" is a poignant meditation on the deep ties between identity, land, and ancestral heritage. As a Chickasaw poet and environmentalist, Hogan frequently explores the interconnection between people and the natural world, often grounding her work in Indigenous traditions and perspectives. In this poem, she evokes imagery of ancient women, the landscape, and the slow passage of time to articulate a sense of belonging and the process of reclaiming one's roots.

The poem opens with the evocative line: "There were old women who lived on amber." Amber, fossilized tree resin, suggests something ancient and preserved, symbolizing a timeless, enduring connection to the earth. By saying the women lived on amber, Hogan implies that these ancestors were sustained by the past, their lives deeply intertwined with history and the natural world. The phrase also suggests resilience and wisdom, as amber holds the remnants of ancient life, much like the memories and traditions carried by these women.

Their dark hands laced the shells of turtles together, / pebbles inside and they danced with rattles strong on their legs. This image draws on Indigenous cultural practices where rattles made from turtle shells and pebbles are used in ceremonies and dances. The turtle, a recurring symbol in Hogan's work, often represents the earth itself in Native cosmologies, particularly in the creation stories where the world is said to rest on the back of a giant turtle. The act of lacing the shells together connects the women's movements and traditions directly to the earth, suggesting a harmonious relationship between the people, their culture, and the natural world. The rattles strong on their legs indicate not just ceremonial significance but also the physical strength and presence of these women, whose lives and rituals resonate across generations.

Hogan then introduces a geographical and metaphorical divide: "There is a dry river between them and us. / Its banks divide up our land." The dry river serves as a powerful symbol of disconnection, perhaps alluding to the physical and cultural separations caused by colonization, displacement, and modern life. The banks divide up our land points to the fragmentation of Indigenous territories and the resulting loss of unity and continuity with ancestral ways of life. This division is both literal, in the carving up of land, and figurative, in the emotional and spiritual distances created by historical trauma.

Yet, despite this separation, the poem emphasizes a journey of return: "Its bed was the road I walked to return." Hogan suggests that even though the river is dry, its path remains—a route back to heritage and identity. The speaker’s journey along this riverbed symbolizes a personal and collective attempt to reconnect with ancestral roots, to traverse the landscape of memory and reclaim a sense of home.

The metaphor of the turtle returns in the line: "We are plodding creatures like the turtle, / born of an old people." The slow, deliberate movement of the turtle reflects a patient, enduring relationship with time and history. By likening people to turtles, Hogan highlights a sense of groundedness and resilience. The phrase born of an old people underscores the idea of lineage and the transmission of cultural wisdom across generations. This connection to an ancient lineage suggests that identity is not only personal but deeply communal, woven into the fabric of history and the land.

“We are nearly stone turning slow as the earth.” This line conveys a profound sense of rootedness and permanence. To be nearly stone suggests both endurance and an unbreakable connection to the earth. The comparison to the earth’s slow turning emphasizes the natural rhythm of life, aligning human existence with the broader cycles of nature. Hogan suggests that, like the earth itself, people are shaped by slow, almost imperceptible changes, grounded in traditions and experiences that accumulate over time.

The next image deepens this connection to the earth’s ancientness: "Our mountains are underground they are so old." Here, Hogan suggests that the foundations of identity and culture are deeply buried, ancient beyond immediate perception. The mountains represent strength, permanence, and history, but their hidden nature points to how much of Indigenous history and culture has been obscured or forgotten due to colonization and displacement. Yet, despite being buried, these mountains remain part of the landscape, their presence felt even if not seen.

Hogan then brings the focus back to the land as a living, breathing entity: "This land is the house we have always lived in." This line asserts a fundamental truth of Indigenous identity—the land is not just a place but a home, integral to who the people are. It reflects the idea that the relationship with the land is not one of ownership, as seen in Western notions of property, but one of belonging and stewardship. The land is a source of life, culture, and history, and it holds the memory of those who have lived on it.

The poem concludes with a vivid, cyclical image: "The women, their bones are holding up the earth. / The red tail of a hawk cuts open the sky / and the sun brings their faces back with the new grass." The women, whose bones hold up the earth, are both literal ancestors and symbolic pillars of cultural heritage. Their lives and sacrifices are the foundation upon which the present rests. The red tail of a hawk—often a symbol of vision, power, and connection to the spiritual world—cuts open the sky, suggesting a rupture or revelation, a pathway between the earthly and the divine. The hawk’s flight connects the heavens to the earth, reinforcing the idea that the past and present, the spiritual and physical, are intertwined.

Finally, the image of the sun bringing their faces back with the new grass suggests renewal and rebirth. Just as grass returns with each spring, the memory and presence of the ancestors are brought back to life through the natural cycles of the earth. This closing image ties together the themes of continuity, resilience, and the inseparable connection between people and the land.

Structurally, "Calling Myself Home" moves fluidly between imagery of the natural world and reflections on identity and heritage. Hogan’s language is rich with symbolism, drawing on both personal and cultural history to explore what it means to return to one’s roots. The repetition of natural imagery—turtles, rivers, mountains, and hawks—serves to ground the poem in the physical world while also imbuing it with spiritual significance.

At its core, "Calling Myself Home" is a poem about reconnection: to the land, to ancestral wisdom, and to a deeper understanding of self. Hogan’s exploration of these themes resonates with the broader struggles of Indigenous peoples to reclaim their histories and identities in the face of displacement and cultural erasure. Through its evocative imagery and lyrical flow, the poem invites readers to consider their own relationships with place and heritage, and to recognize the enduring power of the land as both a literal and metaphorical home.

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