Question

In the poem "Song for the Turtles in the Gulf," what part of a turtle's shell does the word 'plastron' refer to?

(1 point)
Responses

The underside of the shell
The underside of the shell

The claws on the flippers
The claws on the flippers

The inner lining of the shell
The inner lining of the shell

The mosaic growth on top
The mosaic growth on top
Song for the Turtles in the Gulf By Linda Hogan
We had been together so very long,

you willing to swim with me

just last month, myself merely small

in the ocean of splendor and light,

the reflections and distortions of us,

and now when I see the man from British Petroleum

lift you up dead from the plastic bin of death,

he with a smile, you burned

and covered with red-black oil, torched

and pained, all I can think is that I loved your life,

the very air you exhaled when you rose,

old great mother, the beautiful swimmer,

the mosaic growth of shell

so detailed, no part of you

simple, meaningless,

or able to be created

by any human,

only destroyed.

How can they learn

the secret importance

of your beaten heart,

the eyes of another intelligence

than ours, maybe greater,

with claws, flippers, plastron1

Forgive us for being thrown off true,

for our trespasses2

in the eddies of the water

where we first walked.


1. the part of a turtle’s shell that forms the underside

2. trespasses is a synonym for sins; lines 26-27 allude to a Christian prayer that includes the line “forgive us our trespasses”

Answer 1

The underside of the shell

Answer 2

The underside of the shell.