For Calling the Spirit Back from Wandering the Earth in Its Human Feet

The poem tells the reader to put down “that bag of potato chips, that white bread, that bottle of pop” (Line 1); to turn off “that cell phone, computer, and remote control” (Line 2). The first three items are foods; the next three are technology. All six are distractions that may be less than nurturing. By putting these items next to one another, the speaker suggests that they are similar.

White bread, potato chips, and pop are food staples with denuded nutritional value. Potato chips are vegetables that have been fried in oil. Pop is water that has been mixed with sugar and corn syrup. White bread is wheat that has been bleached, broken down, and stripped of nutrition. These items are called “junk food,” and juxtaposing them alongside technological devices suggests that the latter are also a form of junk food.

These items cause harm by distracting the mind and spirit. Midway through the poem, the speaker says: “Watch your mind. Without training it might run away and leave your heart for the immense human feast set by the thieves of time” (Line 15). This echoes the opening lines, where the speaker depicts a person who has lost their spirit by eating empty calories and engaging in empty distractions.