Rest assured, she will be around on Monday, but tonight we have something to share which will lead into something we will cover this week. This poem is named Driving. Do not judge the book by its cover.
Read this carefully and tell me if you have an idea what we will discuss. Although the poem is quite short, there are a number of concepts contained within its verse.
Accept my apologies in advance for the formatting, as this was not originally written for a space this narrow, but for a book. I have tried to keep some of the visual appeal intact.
Over the years, I have come to appreciate the visual effects of poetry, which often can help mitigate some of its erstwhile shortcomings. When you read, forget it is a poem in the classic sense. Read as though it were fiction. Pause where the punctuation tells you to pause. I like to read it aloud the second time.
I know this goes against the Hallmark Greeting card method you learned studying Keats and Shakespeare, but poetry always feels different when you read the content instead of the structure. Think more along the lines of e.e. cummings.
If it makes it easier, read it both ways. See if you feel a difference.
I hope you enjoy, and look forward to you interpretations, as always. Remember, I want to know what you think is to come.
Where the Road Fades
Driving
Without knowing where the road fades into the rolling countryside,
I feel my way along the pavement.
The darkness crept across my path, a thief stealing
the light into the growing night.
The edge veers beneath the wheels and the trees loom tall
waving their warning.
A shudder in the steering brings me to hold to the stripes tight. Or
is this what I really want?
The darkness is warm, enveloping all around me, in it I find solace.
I can close my eyes and join it or I can flash the lights,
Scare it back into the margins to keep it at bay.
But, the thought of sending it away brings with it certain fright
Because I know what I want.
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bear
/ January 8, 2012It’s where life takes you. And what it throws at you!
Red
/ January 9, 2012Good interpretation. Hmm.
Angela Young
/ January 8, 2012Wish I were better at interpreting poetry. You’d think I would be. So I’m going to go with what bear said for the moment. Hope you’re enjoying your vacation.
Red
/ January 9, 2012Safe bet, Angie.
Raymond alexander kukkee
/ January 8, 2012I don’t much like to suggest it, but this poem suggests willful self-destruction. Thoughts of suicide. Bringing on the end. On the balancing point–heading into the unknown.
We hope you’re having a great vacation, Red!
Red
/ January 9, 2012Very good observation about suicide. But suicide takes many faces, eh? Social, career, relationship…
Marc Phillippe Babineau
/ January 8, 2012Ooh, I know! It’s a blind guy driving a black Cadillac in the dark! No? Never did get poetry, but I sure like limericks!
But, being a poem, the meaning has to be a metaphor or just hidden. with that, would it have something to do with a metaphor to going mad?
Red
/ January 9, 2012Very possible.
christyb
/ January 9, 2012I am sensing a negative event to come, life altering in its magnitude. Perhaps there will be a car accident. The voice in the poem seems to be looking for something deeper to connect with. Perhaps the connection will bring comfort in the end.
christyb
Red
/ January 13, 2012Very good interpretation. I wonder though if I would call it an event. I think of it more as a line of thinking, a belief if you will. Hmm.
Androgoth
/ January 9, 2012It would seem that this
is a journey into oblivion…
Perhaps a lost soul trying
to regain the path of enlightenment?
This is a thought
provoking poem Red 🙂
Androgoth XXx
Red
/ January 13, 2012Very good interpretation. I do see it as a path to ideal. Maybe, I will put in my two cents before it is over 😉 Red.
awarewriter
/ January 9, 2012I see a headlong rush to a destination, ignoring the journey.
Red
/ January 13, 2012Interesting take, John. I see holding tight to the stripes as holding on to the rut which has become of the path. Hmm. Another vote for my take.
Red.
lorrelee1970
/ January 9, 2012I’m with Androgoth on this one.
Red
/ January 13, 2012It is a good interpretation.