Basket
by Mary Naut
May 2022
Katy Jetnil-Kijiner’s book that weaves poems together is called Iep Jaltok. Her poem "Basket" was the main focus of the entire book. She started to weave the basket and ended the book of poems with another poem called "Basket". This includes the stories that are weaved throughout her culture, passed down through generations. The stories of feminism, global warming and racial discriminations that her people faced. The two "Basket" chapters start and end the book of poems in a beautiful way.
What I took away from these poems was that the Marshallese women are consistently offering themselves, which is shown through a repetition of the word “offer”. She uses descriptive words such as “conquer” and “devour” to show what it’s like to be a Marshallese woman. Jetnil-Kijiner shifts this feminine idea into another idea of Marshallese women being the land. The land provides food, shelter and is also torn apart. Like the land, the woman provides necessities for their family. She personifies the land to being a woman, constantly offering herself, torn apart by society and the land being threatened by global warming. She uses personification to relate the woman and land to convey how taking too much, whatever it may be, can impact not only people but also the world around them. “ I fell asleep/dreamt my words were a current/flowing to greet you.” This relays the message of wanting to let people know that you are welcomed even if you're different from her. That quote works as a messenger of the stories told through the hands of weavers, to make beautiful baskets for generations to come.