Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Aimee is an Indian poet. Her book Lucky Fish revolves around three major themes: 1. writing, 2. family, 3. culture.

When I was living in the states (yes, I'm back in Lebanon for the time being) I took a writing workshops with a great teacher and poet named Zilka Joseph and she directed me to the poem of today's blog topic.

"The Secret of Soil" is a powerful poem about life, and being connected to the earth.

The following is her poem.

My close reading analysis is below:



The first line of the poem "The secret of smoke" is in contrast to "The secret of soil." This juxtaposition is a powerful way to start the poem because it contrasts earth to home. Smoke fills the room, space being recognized as confined, the lung absorbing the smoke. But this smoke is not exactly threatening it is paralleled to "soapy bubble," which is a complication because the space of home is both hostile (smoke) and almost child like in its innocence (bubble).

Moving on to the second stanza we are introduced to "The secret of soil," which is "alive". The poem revolves around this conception of living and earth very delicately. There is a definitive violence to it like the smoke of the first stanza. Lines 6 and 7 "Carried on the back/ of a thousand bugs" or lines 22 and 23 "I'm not/allowed to be alone with scissors" all reflect the burden of both being a person using earth and the weight of this on earth's life.

"I could not take it// their beauty, could not swallow/ that such stones lived deep inside/ the earth" reiterates this struggle with the earth and hence living. The persona of the poem is so passionately taken with the earth and its life that she turns to knowledge seeking to absorb the most out of it. But this is dangerous too (scissors, cutting, tape).

The final line of the poem "I will always find a way to dig" is an affirmation that making the most of life or the soil is imperative regardless of the dangers. Aimee also hints at her own curiosity and that innocence is revisited at the end of the poem ("I'm not/ allowed to be alone with scissors").

As is evident violence is contrasted to innocence and the human life is contrasted to the earths life. All of which are interwoven together to reflect a strong need to live even though it may hurt.

This appeals to me. A poem about living and being that encourages a youthful loving of life, an urge to passionately feel life in all its places, is a great statement. Its hopeful.