Theme Of Every Traveler Has One Vermont Poem By Audre Lorde

In “Every Traveler Has One Vermont Poem,” Audre Lorde juxtaposes humans and nature through personification, tone, and the title to argue that while nature provides an escape from human racism, that very same racism limits marginalized groups’ access to nature.
By personifying nature, Lorde establishes that nature’s indifference to human presence thus makes it immune to human cultural maladies like racism. From the beginning of the poem, the narrator describes natural elements as “hid[ing] a longing or confession,” thus marking it as a safe refuge where she can trust her secrets (Lorde line 2). Similarly, describing how “tree mosses point the way home” describe nature as a guide to home, a place of serenity, safety, and comfort (Lorde line 5). This personification all works to convey that nature provides an escape for the narrator, contrasting with the harshness attributed to human racism later on in the poem.
The most significant aspect of personification, however, lies where she describes “sneeze-weed and ox-eye daisies/not caring I am a

The mention of the “one” Vermont poem is especially significant, as it implies that all of their poems are essentially the same, suggesting a uniformity of experiences among travelers, that the vast majority of travelers experience the same tranquility. Yet, the speaker’s experiences with nature are uniquely different, as her experience is tainted by racism that is inescapable even in the beauty of Vermont nature. Thus, because of her position in society, she isn’t allowed the same access to nature as every other traveler, making it impossible for her to write that “one Vermont poem” while still staying true to her