Riprap

- Gary Snyder (p.360)

Quite an interesting imagery is laid out by this poem. It begins with

"Lay down these words
before your mind like rocks
placed solid, by hands."

The poem has the reader consider the verse as more than just a set of words, but objects. It provides images of solid objects that are all loosely connected, such as the bark on trees or leaves, or broken stones. The poem then relates the image of loosely connected parts to the form of the poem, loosely connect images that make up a greater piece. Then referring to smooth granite pebbles strewn about in loose soil, the author presents the image of great strain and difficulty when he writes

"Granite: ingrained
with torment of fire and weight"

as if to emphasize the deliberate nature of the individual words, though all of this is done through the imagery of a loose pebbles, that had in fact come from the fiery bowls of the earth. By comparing his poem to an "endless four dimensional Game of Go," the poem draws the picture of the world being the connection between individual solid pebbles. The lines of the poem itself are arranged like a zig-zagging path with every other line indented, as the poem also provides much imagery of paths, such as the milky way, and ponies walking down rocky mountain trails, and stones in Go, as well as the swirls of crystals in rocks.