Stephen Dunn
After the teacher asked if anyone had
a sacred place
and the students fidgeted and shrank
in their chairs, them most serious of them all
being along, his tape deck playing
things he'd chosen, and others knew the truth
and began speaking about their rooms,
their hiding places, but the car kept coming up
the car in motion,
music filling it, and sometimes one other person
who understood the the bright altar of the dashboard
and how far away
a car could take him from the need
to speak, or to answer, the key
in having a key
and putting it in, and going.
In an essay in Poetry East (Spring 2013), Dunn describes how this poem was born during a guest talk he gave in a friend's "Myth and Religion" anthropology course.
The photos are by Danny Lyon. You can see both and more on this recent New York Times slideshow.
No comments:
Post a Comment