Country filled cotton.

Cottonmouth Country

Louise Glück

Fish bones walked the waves off Hatteras.

And there were other signs

That Death wooed us, by water, wooed us

By land:  among the pines

An uncurled cottonmouth that rolled on moss

Reared in the polluted air.

Birth, not death, is the hard loss.

I know.  I also left a skin there.

      Cottonmouth Country is amongst many poems that I initially just do not get. Such as, "hatteras" had no meaning to me what so ever until I looked it up that it had to do with the exact sentence- fishing. There are two deep aspects of this poem, its purely birth and death. "Death wooed us, by water, wooed us by land..." The overall idea that death is completely unsurpassing, it calls out to the depths of the sea to the parched land, no matter what they hear it calling them (almost as if by name).

     I see the cottonmouth being a symbol for frustaration, and almost a haunting. I say that because this obviously ceases to be a very "happy" poem but it's telling something beyond just the birth and death and it does so by using the cottonmouth. The cottonmouth is the pivotal time in the poem where the audience is able to understand what is ACTUALLY going on, like me, many readers will not understand the poem until the meaning behind the title is revealed. The title of the poem "Cottonmouth Country", the author using country after cottonmouth could mean that the symbolic meaning behind the cottonmouth is so vacant and widespread sometimes we feel as if we are actually living in it.

     Backing away from the writing and just simply putting it into words for each ones individualized self is where a true meaning comes from poetry, and thank goodness for that! Because if there was a specific way to look at poetry, well... I would surely fail.