My Father's Song

The damp, sandy earth recurs throughout the poem as a symbol of nature’s fertility. Ortiz refers to it several times in almost every stanza, recalling “the soft damp sand” (Line 11), “the soft moist sand” (Line 17), the “sand moist clod” (Line 23), and the “cool and warm sand” (Line 25). These occurrences are usually at the end of each stanza, grounding his memory in the literal earth as he remembers the cool softness of the earth. His remark that he remembers the soft damp sand “this one particular time” (Line 10) infers that it is not always like this—soft, loamy, yielding earth that is easy to plow and plant. On this particular day, the boy is also receptive to growth and learning as he shadows his father in the fields. The mice have made a home in this forgiving landscape, finding shelter in the cool earth for their nest. Like the mice, the boy is also raised and nurtured in this field. His connection to the earth here is intentional in the poem. Just as they are planting seeds in the field, his father’s lesson will grow in him like a seed as well. Thus, the sand is not only a fertile space for corn to grow, and for small animals to thrive, but for the boy to learn and grow in the shelter of his father.