violent human nature

In Paula Bohince's "Incident at the Edge of Bayonet Woods," the protagonist recalls the old farm where she grew up after her father is murdered. Her old home is isolated in the wilderness, removed from society, and the return evokes old memories of nostaliga. Already, a sense of loneliness and bitter remorse for the past is established and sets the tone which will carry on for the rest of this poem. “I taste the odor of straw and millet released into fall, the cursive of my father’s burning cigarette, muslin curtain parting.” The murder of her father has left a profound effect on the narrator and she is changed forever because of it, seeing the world in a different, dimmer light. However, it is this lighting which illuminates her in the dark and will allow her to find meaning in her sorrow. There is plenty of sensory detail in Bohince's writing and I also noticed a huge emphasis on nature and violence, especially when the murder is described by John: "When the wet rose bloomed in the chest of the man I killed, I tried to concentrate on its image, tried to sit with that flower and feel as God must, the pleasure of his birds swollen with feathers, his birds bound to the sky, belonging to his kingdom of violence". It is awesome how Bohince is able to take elements from both these contrasting themes and combine them to create these raw images. After all, nature isn't always about sunshine and flowers. Nature can be cold, brutal and unforgiving, often reflecting our own cruel human nature.