20 pages • 40 minutes read
Kwame DawesDirt
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 2013A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Sword at Our Backs
The “sword / at our backs” (Lines 21-22) is a metaphor for persecution and forceful removal in all eras, from those who were taken directly from Africa to the later generations of free African Americans kept from land through violence and intimidation. The “sword” is a metaphor for all the violent oppression faced by Black people throughout the generations. The word also has a biblical connotation; many Bible stories involve persecution through the use of an aggressor with swords.
Bones
The poem uses the word “bones” twice. First, the speaker says they will sell their bones to buy land and then that they will bury their bones in “our dirt.” Bones are the most essential structure in the human body, allowing it to stand, take shape, and work. They signify a person’s physical self, something they can control and “own” even if others do not recognize them as being legally free to own anything. They also last longer than any other body part, making them markers for immortality. Even after a person dies and rots, their bones persist, making them an object that connects one generation to the next. Saying that they will sell their bones signifies that the speakers will sell their time on this world and the lives of those that come after them. The last sentence “we will build new tribes / and plant new seeds / and bury our bones in our dirt” (Lines 32-34) is a hopeful statement that suggests that the sacrifices “we” made to get the land will result in a better future and an ultimate resting place.
Currency of Personhood
Currency is something people trade for goods and services. In “Dirt” the speakers imagine what it was like for their forebearers to stand in a field and “suddenly understand / the meaning of a name, a deed, / a currency of personhood” (Lines 7-9). This refers to two aspects of being enslaved: they have lost the “currency of personhood” because they have had their rights as people taken from them, and they no longer have control over their bodies, their labor, or their ability to gain from their labor. The other aspect is that of becoming currency. They are being bought and sold, traded in the marketplace. Instead of being able to make money, they are being treated like money. They have a value but cannot control that value. Their personhood, autonomy, and ability to make decisions for themselves have been converted into currency.
