The poem “Salvage” by Ada Limon can be related to the song “Everything I Wanted” by Billie Elish because both are written as a way to grieve. Limon is writing about a tree, half of which is charred from countless fires, and half of which is “silvery green” and thriving. This tree is a symbol of the people she and her people once were and the people they currently are. The thriving side is described as “silvery green broadleaf shoots ascend toward the winter light,” representing the lively, spirited, and growing individuals they used to be, and then the burned side is described as “black ash” and a “cavity that was hollowed out by flame” illustrating how everyone had the light sucked out of them and now there is a hole, demonstrating something missing from the people they used to be. Limon is grieving the thriving side, she misses “who I was. I miss who we all were,” before the fires.
Billie Elish is also grieving in her song “Everything I Wanted” however she is mourning herself. Elish is writing about her own death and subtly grieving the person she was, while she thought her dream was everything she wanted because she did not want to be the person she was, others saw it as “nightmare To anyone who might care.”
The poem and the song connect, because both are heavily grieving and wishing things were different. While Limon’s grieving is shown through the symbol of the half dead tree, Elish’s grief is an internal battle that she has only dreamt about and kept to herself. Both wish to stop grieving, as Limon is looking at the tree it makes her miss the alive half even more, causing her to take action and attempt moving on by apologizing to herself and saying, “I am sorry I have been so reckless with your life.” This recklessness is also shown in the song, “Thought I could fly (fly) So I stepped off the Golden,” because originally Elish thinks this is her dream, however as the song goes on she begins to realize that it is fact a nightmare, because she has someone supporting her, which gives her hope and begins her journey to stop the grieving. Both are mourning themselves before certain events occurred, in the poem the fire burned the trees which is a symbol for leaving people dark, drained, and hollow; meanwhile Elish experienced hurtful words and “what they said would go straight to my head,” causing her to overthink and become a new person.

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In the book “The Carrying” by Ada Limon, the poem “Carrying” stood out to me. The first thing I noticed was the last line, “Knows we were all meant for something.” This line stands out to me because it serves as a sign that the author is struggling with her self image and that she needs to remind herself that she is worthy. Even though it is not originally clear as to what the author is dealing with she is clearly struggling with how she perceives herself.

As I reread the poem I began to realize the lack of color in the world described in the poem. There was once color in the author’s world when she was happy and content with her life, but as she started becoming unsatisfied with herself, the color started fading from her world. The color is disappearing from the earth as the “sky’s white with November’s teeth.” This is a symbol of the author’s joy seeping away from her. I think these lines are important because it shows that the author is upset and allows the reader to view the world through the author’s eyes, and the author views it as a colorless depressing world. 

A line that is difficult to understand was “our mare, her belly barrel-round with foal.” At first I did not see the connection between the horses and the author’s perspective. But as I continued to analyze I discovered that this line is symbolizing the weight that the author is carrying on her shoulders, through the horse carrying the weight of the baby. By demonstrating the burden that the author feels, it becomes clear why the light is disappearing from her life. Therefore, this line I further supports the idea that the world has limited joy because the author is being weighed down by different aspects of life, causing her to enjoy life significantly less. 

I think I have a good understanding of the lines “the sky’s white with November’s teeth” and “a flush of color from the dying tree” because these lines are using imagery to convey the author’s thoughts of a dark troublesome world. The author is extremely drained and tired, and in order to symbolize that the light is being sucked from the world around her, leaving everything colorless. However, she is still trying to find some joy in her life so the line “mares look for what’s left of green” demonstrates her searching for light in the vastness of darkness. By the author knowing that “we were all meant for something” and searching for the last snippet of color, it proves that she is attempting to regain her pride and joy in life by reminding herself of her worth.   

This poem is extremely relatable because everyone goes through dark patches in their lives and in order to escape them, little reminders, such as self worth, are necessary. And throughout difficult situations, looking on the bright side can shed light on the situation and make the difficult times easier. I find myself always trying to look on the bright side, because if not, the light quickly fades from my life.  

https://poets.org/poem/carrying

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