American Primitive: Poems Study Guide

In "August", the blackberries hang in the woods, and the narrator spends all day eating them, the black honey of summer. Her body accepts itself for what it is. In the dark creek, there is only her life and her happy tongue. In "Mushrooms", the rain and cool winds pull the mushrooms from the ground in the fall time. Some of the mushrooms are delicious, but some are poisonous. Those who know the difference gather them. Although all of the mushrooms look innocent, to eat the wrong one is paralysis; it will cause a person to fall like the mushrooms themselves fall as they retreat back underground. In "The Kitten", in amazement, the narrator takes the stillborn kitten from its mother's bed and buries it in the field behind the house. She could have given it to a museum or called the ne... (read more)