In Blackwater Woods

In the first stanza of the poem it said, "the trees are turning their own bodies into pillars of light." This line stuck out to me because I think it means the trees are timeless, they have turned into these stone pillars that will never die. The, "of light", part means they stand for something good or pure. The next line, "are giving of cinnamon and fulfillment," is like smelling a familiar and nice smell that the author might familiarize with fulfillment. Such as the smell of burning wood is a comforting and nice smell because it reminds someone of a camp fire which usually has fond memories.

The next part about cattails is just a description, the top of a common cattail is brown, soft feeling, and oval shaped. When it blooms all of it's fluffy seeds emerge and are carried away by the wind or water. "Blue shoulders of the ponds," means to me just the color of the water, when ripples are created it's kind of like tiny waves that could be seen like a blue shoulder. The part where the author talks about how every pond is nameless now I think means that people never remember or know the name of a pond because it's just a pond, nothing big or great like a lake or river.

"The fires and the black river of loss whose other side is salvation, whose meaning none of us will ever know." I visioned this line like heaven and hell. The ,"fires", is hell and the, "other side", is heaven. "The black river of loss," is that journey everyone takes that will either lead them to heaven or hell. It is a river of loss because people go through life not knowing if they will go to heaven or hell or if there is a heaven or hell, they are unguided. "Whose meaning none of us will ever know", is referring to the salvation part because no one knows what happens after death or what heaven or hell will be like.

The last two stanza's about the three things everyone must do is talking about finding something in the world like family, friends, or something you choose to believe in is the mortal thing a person must love and a person has to hold it against them like they're life depends on it is because of that river of loss. A person is unguided so they need something or someone to believe in and to hold on to, to help them through life and then, when the times comes part, is about death, when a person is about to die they have to let go of that person or thing and just let death come.