English 42 - Hay for the Horses - Gary Snyder

Hay for the Horses - Gary Synder

        Gary Synder's "Hay for the Horses" is about him traveling through half the night with a big truckload of hay to the barn. He hauls alfafa high in the dark; with the sun barely rising. He is itchy from the haydust, sweaty from the work. He toils about, but during lunchtime he has time to reflect. He is 68 years old, but worked this job when was 17. It might resemble a self-fulfilling prophecy... but a far stretch assumption is he probably kept toiling and never made time to think about doing anything else he may have wanted to do. I find it depressing... how would you interpret this poem?

English 42 Poetry - Homework by Allen Ginsberg

Homework - Allen Ginsberg
         Allen Ginsberg's "Homework" he describes the world as a dirty laundry, the articles of clothing are the different countries and places that are unclean. I find it worth noting that the United States is thrown in where the North Pole has smog, Iran is dirty and Africa needs to be scrubbed according to the author. The Amazon river is to be cleaned as well the oil of the Gulf of Mexico. Wipe up the pipelines in Alaska.
         The homework Allen Ginsberg speaks of modern pollution towards the end of the twentieth century. He mentions many places, Iran is the first; maybe an alliteration to the war in the middle east and or oil struggle. He'd throw in the United States and use Ivory Soap. He may referring to the wars in Africa, and the mention of putting the birds and elephants back in the jungle since wars may have droven them out. Asia is thrown in the laundry to wash out "Agent Orange," or biological warfare used during the Vietnam War. He wants to clean up landmarks such as the Parthenon & Sphinx  His laundry isn't done until the world is clean no matter how long it takes. I think the poem is mostly about pollution, literal and political and that the Earth is to be cleaned, but is there a much deeper meaning to it?