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?
Great interpretation of Ginsberg's poem! I agreed with a lot of what you said here. To answer your question (or begin answering), I feel like that really is the crux of the poem. While there might be layers and nuances, I think the heart of the poem is the idea of pollution and what that really means (you mentioned the idea of "political pollution"). I see a lot of irony in the language and the relationships between words that Ginsberg uses here, but otherwise I fully agree with your interpretation.
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