The Meaning of Life
The narrator, in a sense, is speaking the viewpoint of the author, and that is that being a human has a greater meaning that we usually take it as. Especially in the poem, "Culture and the Universe", we see that the simple things are really quite complex, and this all adds to the undefinable "meaning of life". The author, in writing these poems, knows that we will not get any closer to what life is all about, but hopefully will come up with a few unique ideas inspired by his work.
Significance
Significance can be tied in with the prior theme, the meaning of life. Part of living in a world where we may be small compared to everything else, our instinct to think we are significant is not to be left in the ashes. Part of being a human is knowing that life is a precious gift, and the significance of "every little thing" all lies in the viewer's perspective.
Maturity
Mostly dealing with mental maturity in his poems, Ortiz incorporates both young and old into this dilemma. Seen in the poem "Busted Boy", and young man is off on his way to meet and greet the world, not really knowing what he will find. Ortiz probably added a bit of himself into that boy, since he now understands the motive behind all of the precious mistakes that we make. Yet, even as we grow older, we still make mistakes. Shown in some of his other poems, life is like an onion where each layer needs to be peeled away, each underside revealing a deeper meaning, and often times we stop peeling before we realize how much more there is left to conquer.
