Poems of the Open Road
by Lionel E. Deimel
Parking Lot
|
|
I back up in the parking lot
And wish that I could see
Around the object to my right,
That monstrous SUV. |
|
Tunnel
|
 |
|
The line before the tunnel crawls,
Though morning rush is past;
I creep through darkness to the end,
Where cars again move fast. |
Four-way Stop
|
|
The rules for four-way stops are clear—
No need for green or red:
I wait for him; he waits for me;
We both speed on ahead. |
|
|
Radio
|
 |
|
When cruising down the interstate,
My radio’s my friend;
Though stories sometimes have a start
But haven't any end. |
Passing
|
|
I find the truck ahead too slow,
And so I choose to pass;
But when I look behind, I see
That truck is on my ass.
|
|
 |
Expressway
|
 |
|
On unfamiliar urban roads,
The challenge that I fear
Is, mid the zooming cars and trucks,
To read the signs and steer. |
Rental Car
|
|
It’s great to have a rental car
With features you need now;
I’m trying to use the radio
But cannot figure how.
|
|
 |
Changing Lanes
|
 |
|
That van behind is gaining fast;
I hope the right lane’s clear;
But in the mirror cars are not
As far as they appear. |
| These poems may be more about venting
frustration than creating art. No doubt, most readers can relate to these poems
with no further annotation, but I will offer a few explanations. Pittsburgh has three long
vehicular tunnels—the inspiration for “Tunnel”—that tend to be traffic bottlenecks. It is a local
mystery why cars can creep, bumper-to-bumper, through one of these tunnels, only
to find open road at the other end. When I make long car trips, I usually listen
to National Public Radio as much as
I can. “Radio” was born of the frustration of trying to hear all of a
program as I move from the coverage area of one NPR station to that of another.
The first three poems were written 10/25/2001, and the next three were written
over the next two days. Some minor improvements were made 4/7/2002 and
on 6/21/2003. “Rental Car” was written 5/19/2003, the same day I
made changes to “Expressway” to clarify the frustration that
inspired it—the task of reading, understanding, and reacting to signs
on unfamiliar highways, amid fast-moving traffic. Changing Lanes”
was written 2/13/2005 Readers of “Four-way Stop” may enjoy my essay
on this type of intersection.
— LED, 2/13/2005
|
    |
