"A Vast Confusion"

The first poem I dissected was "A Vast Confusion" by Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

From a personal standpoint, I found that I had to reread the poem quite a few times to understand what the heck he was talking about.  Heck, I still am not sure if I know what it's about or not.  I eventually decided that Ferlinghetti had been talking about his views on the world.  I believe he thinks that the world is a very chaotic place with all of its wars, factories, cars, gadgets, etc., yet he somehow still sees hope.  He tells how although society has forgotten about the true nature of the Earth, we, as a collection of people working towards one goal, can reverse the damage we have done.

I too believe that this is very possible.  Yes, there are a lot of things that humanity has screwed up:  Ecosystems, extinctions, pollution, just to name a few.  However, there is an unimaginable number of good things humans have accomplished.  I believe that humanity has come so far over these thousands and thousands of years that we have existed, and it would be a pity to somehow let the "chaos" destroy us all, at the very peak of our discoveries.  There is a way to undo the damage we have caused, and no, it is not easy. BUT, to allow the fact that the solution is not easy, be expensive, etc., to stop us from saving us from ourselves would be a shame.  It would be a shame to have humanity achieve such greatness in the small amount of time we have been in existence, and lose it all because of a few nuclear bombs.  Chaos surrounds us, and we fail to acknowledge it every single day.  Places like North Korea, for example, need to wake up and see the vast negative potential they have.  

We US citizens are especially not innocent either, but neither is the rest of the world.  Almost every nation contributes to the world's chaos in some way or another.  Some more than others, but we need to realize that we need to use our knowledge and power in a positive way.  Many nations have already taken steps to do so, and I am glad we have realized this.

From what I have seen my own generation accomplish so far gives me a good feeling about the future.  Thus far, I have noticed just how intelligent, caring, and hardworking many people around my age are, and I am hoping this contributes to unscrambling the chaos.