I Am Offering This Poem
I Am Offering This Poem - meaning Summary
A Poem as Offering
The speaker presents the poem itself as a tangible gift—warmth, food, shelter and guidance—because they have nothing else to offer. Repeating the line "I love you," the poem frames language as the speaker's sole means of care and protection. It insists that words can sustain and direct a loved one through cold, loss, and a harsh world that might otherwise ignore them, turning verse into a practical act of love.
Read Complete AnalysesI am offering this poem to you, since I have nothing else to give. Keep it like a warm coat, when winter comes to cover you, or like a pair of thick socks the cold cannot bite through, I love you, I have nothing else to give you, so it is a pot full of yellow corn to warm your belly in the winter, it is a scarf for your head, to wear over your hair, to tie up around your face, I love you, Keep it, treasure it as you would if you were lost, needing direction, in the wilderness life becomes when mature; and in the corner of your drawer, tucked away like a cabin or a hogan in dense trees, come knocking, and I will answer, give you directions, and let you warm yourself by this fire, rest by this fire, and make you feel safe, I love you, It's all I have to give, and it's all anyone needs to live, and to go on living inside, when the world outside no longer cares if you live or die; remember, I love you.
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