I met you at a gasoline station,
out in the splinter-and-dust nowhere.
You were beautiful. I wanted to take
you
with me, into that vapor-pearled back
seat, out of here.
You made me think of that overalls-girl
in my sculpture class, and that sweet
soccer player
with the hurt back, and that
cookie-skinned artist
with her eyes over-blacked...
And all the versions of beauty I had
never dared to
ask “please come,” just put onto a
list of views
I'd watched passing in the exhaust,
back where I'm from.
Beyond this,
I went to your list,
which I'm sure you carry, of every
pretty human you have ever regretted
ducking; every bright face that might
have been better than alone...
And out beyond that, a streaming,
indefinite expanse
of every face you or I might see
coming up ahead;
every heart-fluttering,
mutual glance.
There would be no way to fit them all
into this car, in this narrow time,
with you and me.
There is only time here to touch in
passing; to
absorb what we can and, beyond that,
let things be.
“I'll take twenty of diesel—I
forget which pump I'm at.”
she smiled (there were
only two).
“I bet that joke gets old, huh?”
“Only for the first month,”
she smiled again,
“then
it gets new.”
This poem is about how the speaker feels when he sees a beautiful girl, successfully manages an interaction (that amounts to nothing), and deeply ponders what could have been if he had been more forward. Not gonna lie this is a pretty relatable poem. It includes a thoughtful articulation of how these moments fit into someone's life, as an infinitely recurring struggle that persists with each beautiful face. No matter how much people regret not acting in these moments, they don't ever stop "ducking" or move beyond a flirty little interaction. This experience is also not individual to the speaker, as he imagines being added the gas station girl’s list, showing that the feeling fits into the broader human experience.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, while the physical structure of the poem is clearly intentional, I don’t really get it. Is it like a gas dispenser handle?
More like tailpipe exhaust... :)
DeleteThis poem tells the story of the rollercoaster of emotions that go along with and that are associated with romanticized interaction. Beginning with a simple destination, the gas station changes the expectations of a typical romantic interaction. Quickly the emotions go from beautiful to desirable as the gas station beauty reminds the speaker of other women just like herself. She becomes yet another beautiful face but that doesn't change the fact that she is beautiful, nor the fact that she is desirable. However, it does make you question whether or not these emotions that we as individuals endure when it comes to romantic interactions are more mechanical than not.
ReplyDeleteMechanical? Or instinctual/natural?
Delete(I'd agree with the second, but not with the first. We are nothing like machines: that is one of the great metaphorical fallacies of modern western culture)
The speaker shares a story of how he felt after meeting a beautiful girl and what went through his mind as he reflected back on other beautiful women whom he could have interacted with, but instead ducked away. He remembers “all the versions of beauty [he] had never dared to / ask ‘please come’” (9-10). It is clear that the speaker regrets not interacting with other beautiful people in the past while expressing his feelings through language of regret and disappointment. Although the speaker has had unfortunate confrontations in the past, he looks forward to what he “might see / coming up ahead; / every heart-fluttering, / mutual glance” (20-22). The speaker seems to remain hopeful for an upcoming, potential interaction, and even if it is only a brief glance, he appears excited and almost expectant for a better outcome than the ones he has experienced before. The tone seems to change throughout the poem from defeat and disappointment, to a somewhat optimistic and accepting tone of what could occur when meeting someone new again.
ReplyDeleteThis poem discusses the speaker’s feelings towards a beautiful girl, both leading up to and during his interaction with her at the gas station. It describes the process and cycle of thought we all undertake as we analyze the features of each others’ faces. If someone’s face closely resembles someone else’s, we associate that particular “pattern” with that of the other person. This experience is all relayed through the emotional lense of the narrator. The gas station girl’s list represents all the people who have been in the same situation as the narrator, showing that his feelings, while important, are simply drops in the sea of emotions caused by the girl.
ReplyDeleteThe speaker of the poem encounters a woman at a gas station who reminds him of the other beautiful women in his life he has “ducked”. He talks about watching all of those faces passing by in the car exhaust, wishing he had said something to them. The speaker mentions wanting to reach out and how he regrets keeping to himself in the past, but continually stays silent when the opportunity arises to speak up.
ReplyDeleteI think this poem is about courage and how most people wish they had the confidence and self-assurance to make that first step to reach out and seek conversation. The title also indicates that putting yourself out there means the more you will get in return for that moment of confidence.
I have always been the more outgoing child in my family, but talking to a new face still makes me a little anxious. I think there is always that fear of rejection lingering in the back of the mind that haunts us as we approach new people. However, never reaching out to others and only staying within your realm of comfort never brings any excitement or thrill to life. To me, it’s important to take those steps and be courageous in that moment because I believe there are more positive outcomes than negative ones.