The Snake

The snake that Cyrus holds symbolizes all snakes and "wild [things]" (33). When the speaker calls the snake "a noun and verb and a story," she conveys the snake's versatility (12). Cyrus' encounter with the snake represents a meeting of different categories. In this case, it is the meeting of a man with another creature, which then serves as a stand-in for human encounters with other beings in nature.

The Chick

The chick that the speaker and her brother accidentally kill when they break open an egg symbolizes innocence as well as loss of innocence from unintended harm. Curiosity motivates the siblings to crack open the egg, and where they expect to see "yolk and mucus," they find "an unfeathered / and unfurled sweetness" (17-18). Unintentionally killing this innocent being impacts the siblings in different ways.

Wrecking a Forest For a Temple

The history of humans wrecking a...