Cultural identity
The poetry is about identity, but not necessarily the poet's personal identity. Rather, the poet uses his life to illustrate the complex difficulties that go into understanding one's self. For instance, a person is partially defined by their past, but it isn't clear how much of that is nostalgia and how much is true identity. He wrestles to understand himself in the changing environments of the poems, which travel through Africa, Spain, America, all in search of some way to explain what life is really like.
Chaos and the unknown
Chaos is discussed thoroughly, but in metaphors. For instance, water is a kind of chaos, because it is very difficult to predict or control. Sea voyages are chaotic because of storms and shipwrecks, which are likely. Night is chaotic because it becomes difficult to see in the dark. The darkness of night is featured across the poems, but especially in "Night in the Gardens of Port of Spain." America is also offered as a kind of chaos, one that challenges the poet to adapt.
Time and memory
Although many of the poems seem oriented in the present, they are mostly reflections on the past. He feels drawn to certain parts of American culture, but has tension with others, because of what he remembers about life from past times of his life. Africa and Spain are both experiences that linger in the mind of the poet. As he searches for the meaning in his life, he finds some memories are haunting. He invokes the Bible in "The Sea is History," whose title also features time and the past.
