What‘s the theme of the poem “ Beyond the Snow belts ” by Mary Oliver?

In Oliver’s poem, she details how the horrors of the world do not carry the same weight or prudence for those who do not experience them firsthand. When Oliver states, “...the storm has passed us by” (4) and “shouting children hurry back to play” (6), it highlights how even with the knowledge of atrocities in the world, when understood that it will not impact them, their lives resume as usual, with even a carefree attitude. These “disasters” (2) could be from the natural world or from humankind’s own creation. She mentions, “the storm” (4) which can be taken literally and/or figuratively, to represent a harrowing experience one must endure.

The overarching theme of this poem focuses around the idea of disconnecting oneself from the plight of humanity, as long as it is not affecting you. She states, “Forget with ease each far mortality” (14), highlighting even a callousness and disregard for the pain of others.

The themes of denial and helplessness are further evidenced when Oliver states, “And what else might we do?” (9). By proposing this question, it absolves the individuals in this community of any guilt or responsibility to their fellow “citizens” (8).

However, by the poem’s end, there is an acknowledgement that choosing to turn a blind eye to those in pain in a “distant land” (22) cannot be excused, but can be explained. The theme of this disconnect between humanity is reinforced when the author states, “How shall examples move us from our calm?” (19). This shirking of responsibility to help others solidifies the themes of helplessness and denial. While the narrator does in fact acknowledge that there are issues in the world, they claim to have no recourse for addressing them and do not feel a connection to those affected as they are not in their own realm of concern.

The overriding theme is how we often lack empathy for other people's suffering. When we hear of natural disasters and the death and chaos they bring, we go on with our lives as if nothing's happened. Once the storm has passed over, then so long as we're ok, that's all that matters. We can go about our normal business much as before, with children playing in the snow and adults clearing the paths outside their homes.
A natural disaster is just something that happens to other people, not us. A storm two counties to the north of us might as well be taking place on the other side of the moon for all we care. As long as we're not directly affected, there's no point in getting worked up over it. But in lacking empathy for other people's plight we're forgetting our own sense of mortality. What happened to those poor folks two counties north could just as easily happen to us.
Yet the speaker isn't being overtly critical here. She ruefully accepts the simple fact of life that bad news always comes from somewhere else, and that we can't truly be affected by such news unless it directly affects us or the people we care about.