Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The Trip In

By Joseph Hesch

In winter, the commute’s the same,
but the trip is so different.
I drive these glazed donut highways,
clogged commuter arteries
that would give me a heart attack
if I let them, or if I had the heart
for all this anymore.
Headed east to work yesterday I could
barely make out the stop-and-go
chain gang of prisoners in our
four-wheel jail cells because of
the low aspect of Warden Winter's
bloodshot eye, with which I played
the staredown game.
blink
Lost again. I always lose.

I could put the car in neutral
and still make it a couple of miles
before I would have to touch the wheel,
change my course from the
unnatural migration of which I am part.
Some birds are just like me,
they don’t migrate from this chill either.
I see them out my driver’s side window,
chains of starlings, shivering wing-to-wing,
stretching pole-to-pole --
roadside rosaries praying
for bread and a compass
that points south.

And now the final snowy flair
to a winter commute begins.
Flakes so big I can hear them
hit the window and so heavy
the trees will bow to their gravity,
their serious intent to remind me
who's really boss on my trip in.
This snow-light December
will turn into a bully soon enough,
snapping me awake to its will
with all the comfort of a white,
wet blanket whipped towel-like
to my bucket-seated backside.


If you know anything about me--real me and poet me--you know I have this love/hate relationship with winter and my workday world. Put them together and you come up with "The Trip In," this week's effort for dVerse Poets Pub's Open Link Night.

27 comments:

  1. is it just me or is the second half of your poem blinking? its really a great poem but boy it was hard to read blinking...how did you do that?

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  2. haha..love it joe...can see you sitting in that car..love the four-wheel jail cells and i would suggest that all of us should migrate into warmer lands during the winter...the maldives would be nice..of course only if there's a internet connection..smiles
    happy openlinknight mr. hesch...always good having you around

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  3. I enjoy reading poems about commuting and work as it is a big part of my life. Enjoyed the reflections today...Me, I want to migrate to the warmer skies and hope the winter doen't bully me in the drive ~

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  4. Greetings From Southern California

    Great poem! :-)

    Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

    God Bless You, ~Ron @ *TOGB

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  5. And here lies the most amazing thing about Poet Joe...taking an everyday commute and weaving in into a winter wonderland of words and snow flakes. Fantastic Joe...as always, I mean really, there's only so many ways to say AWESOME! :) Happy OpenLinkNight Coach...hoping all is well

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  6. I love the donut metaphor, Joe... I know I couldn't live in that kind of weather (I live in TX).

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  7. "glazed doughnut highways" blanket whipped towel" I love your use of metaphor Joe, always a delight. You inspire me to reach with my words. Beautiful scene here. Thank you!

    Kellie
    @BackyardPonders
    http://magicinthebackyard.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/in-the-silence-of-make-believe/

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  8. "roadside rosaries praying
    for bread and a compass
    that points south."

    Damn, that's good.

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  9. beautiful imagery Joe... loved the second verse.. mighty clever

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  10. I agree with Anthony. The whole second verse is quality and stand out. Well written.

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  11. Wonderful use of metaphor; the poem is delightful!Such a surprising, creative description of a typical wintery commute.

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  12. I liked where things were going, but so hard to capture the end, end, end, end... to much blinking, but very creative

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  13. loved this all through Joe. I loathe wintery road conditions. different trip indeed. maybe doughnuts would help :)

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  14. Love the imagery...an everyday commute captured in a candid and a wonderful way.

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  15. I remember those snowy communtes...they do indeed seem a different journey. They have a way of making one more aware.

    I haven't done one of those in years. Not since I moved south as some dream of doing:
    "chains of starlings, shivering wing-to-wing,
    stretching pole-to-pole --
    roadside rosaries praying
    for bread and a compass
    that points south."

    Love those lines and this poem. Thanks for the trip down a snowy memory lane.

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  16. The trouble with "glazed donut" highways is that I always want to take a bite outa them.

    Although I choose Southern California, I have also lived in New York, Copenhagen, Baltimore, Washington. D.C. and Dover, DE, and had a mountain cabin in Southern California. So I know what you are writing about on your commute and the struggle against "Warden Winter." What I usually feared most, though, was sliding all over the icy, slushy road. Seems in your poem -- and neck of the woods -- the road crews must be good, since you don't mention that anxiety.

    I especially like your "roadside rosaries" of birds in the snow. I could SEE it.

    Thanks for this one! Safe driving.

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  17. I don't want the bully of winter to arrive. Truly I don't. It makes everything so much more difficult and my feet get cold. I'm not a happy commuter with cold feet. The early morning sun that stares me down is bad enough but cold feet... and icy windshields. Wonderful poem.

    I thought the blinking was just me but I see others noticed it too. I just started blinking my eyes in time with it and could read perfectly. :)

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  18. Thanks for your comments, everyone. I was a little confused by so many telling me the poem blinked. I had no clue what you were talking about because I didn't see it. Then I figured out the problem.

    My original copy had the word BLINK enclosed in these, "< >", which are apparently HTML command marks. They told the copy to "blink." So Hesch, eh?

    I've since removed them. (I hope.) Thanks, again!

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  19. great write...the metaphor twixt Ole Man Winter and the Warden 'n his Jail....
    the prisoners in cars & a chain gain rolling along.

    Yep, I remember that commute, all too well. (retired now, and it's amazing how Winter changes in that regards)

    great job here.

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  20. Oh, this is sooo good! 'change my course from the
    unnatural migration of which I am part.' and 'chains of starlings, shivering wing-to-wing,
    stretching pole-to-pole --
    roadside rosaries praying'
    There is just so much good stuff here! Love it!

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  21. Fantastic Joe, the imagery you pulled in suited this so well, I felt as a passenger. Lovely write, my best to you! ~ Rose

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  22. some sharp wordplay here, Joe. love, love, love the description of the starlings...

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  23. Joe, I love the images you treat us to (donuts?!), the starling rosaries! Crisp, careful details, well-observed. You have the eye of a poet.

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  24. I like the birds you placed in the center, the visual of them off setting the scene of you in the car. Enjoyed this.

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  25. What an interesting and completely believable relationship you have created here with the weather, the commute, routine. Even though I'm in Dubai, I recognize this and warm to your words :)

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  26. I love this poem so much ... I could see EVERYTHING.. and feel it too :) So lovely!

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  27. Great vivid realism. I think my favorite line is

    This snow-light December
    will turn into a bully soon enough,

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