Critical Thinking Piece

In the “Ending Poem” discussion board I posted the following:
Throughout this poem there are several significant metaphors. One is the example given in the question of the tree and how it has been rooted in several places. Moralles and Levins also use it to convey how they are connected to other continents. "Africa waters the roots of my tree," and "I am a late leaf of that ancient tree." Both these lines show how she is the person she is by the places that have influenced her past. All these people from different communities have intersected to create a community that has produced her family-line.
Another metaphor that is used in the poem is a tablecloth. "The table has a cloth woven by one, dyed by another, embroidered by another still." Most people possess something that has been handed down through generations. This tablecloth that they speak of represents something that has been altered and enhanced and then passed down through the generations. Each person that contributes to it's creation are apart of a community of people that want to leave something for their successors.
Not only was I able to use my critical thinking skills to understand the metaphors in this poem, but I was able to enhance and improve upon these skills by reading what others had to say. Bailey Luder posted the following:
The poem conveys several different people who descended from different areas of the world. "I come from the dirt where the cane was grown" signifies an individual who either grew up in somewhere in a warmer climate where sugar cane was grown, or was born to parents who came from there.
She viewed the line “I come from the dirt where the cane was grown,” in a completely different way than I did. Being able to cooperatively decipher the poem expanded how I interpreted it and strengthened my critical thinking skills. After participating in the discussion board I was able to reread the poem and see what the authors had to say in a different light.