Cottonmouth Country

Louise Gluck

Hatteras, NC

Fish bones walked the waves off Hatteras.

And there were other signs

That death wooed us, by water, wooed us
By land: among the pines
An uncurled cottonmouth that rolled on moss
Reared in the polluted air.
Birth, not death, is the hard loss.
I know. I also left a skin there. 

     In the first line, she makes a reference to Hatteras.  Hatteras is located on the coast of North Carolina.  Cape Hatteras is often referred to as "Graveyard of the Atlantic" because so many ships have gotten lost there.  I also thought that the first line contained some irony when it said, "Fish bones walked the waves", because fish are more the swimming type, not walking.  This line, as well as two through six, refers to death.  Another sign of death she gave was the cottonmouth, which is a deadly snake.  Line seven is saying that life can be worse than death, and also brings change.  In the last line, Gluck states that she also left a skin there.  I took this as she lost somebody close to her, but instead of blaming death for it, she blames life for giving her that person to begin with.