Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Linda Hogan's "Thanksgiving" is a reflective and poignant meditation on gratitude, mortality, and the delicate interplay between the natural world and human rituals. Hogan, whose work frequently explores themes of nature, Native American identity, and the interconnectedness of life, uses the familiar context of Thanksgiving to delve into deeper questions about sustenance, sacrifice, and the transient beauty of life.

The poem opens with a stark, almost clinical image: "Turkey, blue head on the ground, body in a gleaming white tub with lion claw feet." The juxtaposition of the blue head—evocative of life, albeit extinguished—with the ornate white tub introduces the tension between the rawness of nature and the civilized, decorative trappings of human life. The lion claw feet on the tub add a layer of grandeur, almost absurdly out of place in the context of butchering a turkey, suggesting the way humans attempt to overlay beauty onto acts of survival and death.

“Heat rises in the yard melting crystals of ice,” Hogan writes, drawing attention to the natural world surrounding the act of preparing the turkey. The crystals of ice melting could symbolize the slow erosion of barriers between life and death, as the warmth—possibly from the act of cooking or simply from the changing season—softens the hard, cold exterior of winter. This melting mirrors the transformation occurring with the turkey, from a living creature to a meal.

The focus then shifts to the turkey’s physical remnants: “there are feathers, bronze, metallic blue and green that were his strong wings which never flew away.” Here, Hogan highlights the beauty of the turkey’s feathers, emphasizing their bronze and metallic blue and green hues. The reference to strong wings which never flew away adds a layer of poignancy, suggesting potential that was never realized. The turkey, despite its powerful wings, remained grounded—perhaps by domestication or simply by the inevitability of its fate. This could be read as a broader metaphor for the limitations placed on beings—whether animals or humans—by circumstances beyond their control.

“And we give thanks for it,” Hogan writes, acknowledging the traditional act of expressing gratitude during Thanksgiving. However, this thanks feels complicated, layered with the acknowledgment of sacrifice and loss. The phrase stands alone, stark and unadorned, forcing readers to confront the raw reality of what is being celebrated—not just abundance, but also the taking of life for sustenance.

The poem then shifts to another figure: “and for the old woman, shawl pulled tight around her she sits her teeth brown her body dry her spoons don’t match.” The old woman, described with unflinching honesty, represents endurance and the passage of time. Her brown teeth and dry body suggest age and perhaps hardship, while the spoons don’t match implies a life of practicality over aesthetic perfection. There is a quiet dignity in her presence, and the act of giving thanks for her acknowledges the value of human life and resilience alongside the recognition of the turkey’s sacrifice.

Hogan then widens the lens to the sky: “Some geese, last stragglers trickling out of Canada are flying over.” The geese, migrating south, serve as a reminder of the cyclical nature of life and the changing seasons. Their movement contrasts with the turkey’s groundedness, symbolizing freedom and continuity. The fact that they are last stragglers suggests a sense of lateness, of time slipping by, reinforcing the poem’s underlying meditation on mortality and the fleeting nature of life.

“Noisy, breaking the glass sky gray they are gray and their wings are weightless.” The geese’s noise breaking the glass sky adds a visceral, almost jarring auditory element to the poem. The glass sky suggests fragility, a delicate barrier that can be shattered, hinting at the thin divide between life and death, presence and absence. The repetition of gray emphasizes the somber, muted tone of the scene, while the description of their wings as weightless contrasts with the grounded turkey, highlighting themes of freedom versus captivity, life versus death.

Structurally, Hogan’s poem flows in a single, unbroken movement, mirroring the continuous cycle of life and death. The lack of punctuation and enjambment create a sense of fluidity, as if the poem itself is a meditation unfolding in real-time, moving seamlessly from one image to the next. The descriptive language is vivid yet restrained, allowing the natural imagery to carry the emotional weight without overt sentimentality.

Thematically, "Thanksgiving" grapples with the dualities inherent in the holiday itself: gratitude and loss, abundance and sacrifice, life and death. Hogan refuses to present a simplistic view of thanksgiving as mere celebration; instead, she invites readers to consider the cost of what we give thanks for, whether it’s the life of an animal, the endurance of an elderly woman, or the fleeting beauty of migrating geese. The poem suggests that true gratitude requires acknowledging both the beauty and the pain inherent in the world.

Hogan’s invocation of nature—the turkey, the geese, the melting ice—grounds the poem in a specific place and time while also connecting it to larger, universal cycles. The turkey’s colorful feathers and strong, unused wings, the old woman’s mismatched spoons and dry body, and the geese’s noisy, weightless flight all serve as metaphors for the ways in which life persists, transforms, and ultimately fades.

In "Thanksgiving," Linda Hogan masterfully uses simple, evocative imagery to explore the complex emotions tied to gratitude and survival. The poem is both a celebration of life’s beauty and a somber acknowledgment of its impermanence, urging readers to look beyond the surface of tradition to the deeper truths that underlie our rituals and relationships. Through her unflinching examination of nature, family, and the passage of time, Hogan reminds us that giving thanks is not just about abundance, but also about recognizing and honoring the sacrifices that sustain us.

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