Feminism
Several of Limón's poems have overtly feminist themes, including "Wife" (which quotes a 1970s feminist manifesto) and "How to Triumph Like a Girl." Her feminism is nuanced and explored from many angles including intimate love, wildness, political empowerment, and creative freedom. "Wife" balances the speaker's conflicting feelings about wifehood: she fiercely wants to resist the patriarchal expectations placed on wives to essentially become their husbands' servants, but she makes clear that this independence does not lessen her equally fierce love and desire for her husband. An important aspect of feminism for Limón seems to be the ability to remain untamed in some way—in touch with her wildness, her restless animal self (see our analysis of wildness here). This is deeply linked with her independence as a female writer, a profession in which it has historically been harder for women to be independent as Limón is (see our analysis of her part in this historical lineage of female writers).
Survival and Resilience
Perhaps the greatest theme across Ada Limón's work is survival, in the sense of everyday resilience: how to choose to get up each day and keep on living. "Instructions on Not Giving Up" addresses this head-on, as do many of her other poems. In Limón's work, survival is a choice, one that is easier with the support of human connection and inspiration from nature. In "Instructions," spring trees remind the speaker of her own capacity for survival beyond "whatever winter did to us"—that all-encompassing symbol of trauma.
For Limón, survival necessitates awareness of the negatives and positives: most importantly, feeling deeply. "Wife" includes an image of the speaker in deep melancholy and rumination, as does the dog walk of "The Leash." "The End of Poetry," likewise, was written from a place of deep exhaustion with the pandemic, the world, and art. But these depths are not inherently unwelcome in her poems: it is by inviting the reader to share in her melancholy that it is alchemized into hope. We see this shift in "The Leash" clearly, where the poems' tone shifts noticeably from despair to determined resilience by the end.
Managing Existential Anxiety
One of the recurring causes for the emotional depths that Limón explores is existential anxiety about politics, the environment, and the state of the world. "Dead Stars" and "The Leash" are clear examples of these themes: the poems mention human-induced climate crisis, interpersonal violence of various kinds, and struggles for justice. Her primarily feminist poems, of course, also exist in opposition to misogyny and patriarchy. "The End of Poetry" is a potent example of what happens when the overall existential anxiety of the world almost becomes too much to bear: an exhausting litany of tragedy that includes a friend's suicide, COVID, and more. Because Limón prioritizes keeping an open mind and heart to the full scope of human emotion, as readers we can see how such large-scale anxieties as climate change and political division inevitably seep into her work. The poems' speaker is a vulnerable, yet steadfast guide in helping readers navigate these and avoid becoming overwhelmed themselves.
Connection with other Living Beings
If navigating existential angst and tragedy is a common theme of Limón's work, connection is their recurring antidote. This includes connection and intimacy with other people, and of equal importance, connection with nature. "Dead Stars" is a great example of the former: as the speaker (with her husband present) begins envisioning how we might "love harder," her vision includes "[using] our bodies to bargain / for the safety of others," and the poem itself shifts entirely from "I" to "we." "The End of Poetry" ends, "I am asking you to touch me," human contact serving as the answer to the poem's litany of disillusionment and despair. Likewise, plants and animals are a touchstone to keep the speaker in touch with hope: the trees in "Instructions on Not Giving Up," horses in "How to Triumph Like a Girl," and the dog in "The Leash" are all crucial sources of inspiration for the speaker. Even when Limón's speaker seems alone, she consistently reaches out to build connections with the other lives around her, including that of the reader.
