Description Has Thick Roots

This playful etymological poem explores the complexity of anthropology's principal way of apprehending the world. Description is a multifaceted practice that contours, translates and contextualizes our observations in a way that brings them to life. The poem is, in effect, an origin story of this practice. We theorize with stories and theory‐laden facts. Poetry is a way of dramatizing our (re)presentations. Good description is incisive, almost surgical, cutting to the heart of the matter in a way that vividly realizes its subject. It may be painful to render or to accept but can be deeply satisfying as well. Description further dimensionalizes observer and observed, casting new light on the hopeful knower and the hopefully known. Description animates everything and everyone it attempts to depict. Still, it is an asymptotic enterprise, elusive and incomplete. The persona laments this evasive quality but recognizes that it drives anthropologists' perseverance. The poem celebrates our quest for precision and artful expression.