yesterday with wreck and rainstorm
caught in the curves of interchange
chained, part of chains, knotted
movement stopped, stopped in a chain
of traffic -- no hand to unwind, hours moving
yet -- we capsule-bound in cars observe
ourselves in metallic colors
necklaces in a box tied together
by chance -- we're stuck
inching along - braking - releasing
breaking some more - what happens then--
impatient others try ways to move
making the knot harder to untie
the weather threatens hail while
lightning strikes provide a solder
melding the vice gripped grid
we seek information but the radio
crackles with nothing useful
back to Bach - Vivaldi - Scarlatti
soothing curled notes moving
in order sometimes curling on themselves
suggesting harmony - flow - accord
one sees nothing but a sculptured set
and senses while life abhors a vacuum
it also detests stasis
© Gay Reiser Cannon * 7/21/12 * All Rights Reserved
Got caught in traffic returning from lunch out yesterday. I was stuck for over four hours apparently because of a wreck that blocked all lanes of traffic on a six lane exchange set of overpasses. Stuck in roll/stop-- grueling! Not home until after dark.
def feel for you there....we drove from va to missouri yesterday...16 hours...we got 30 miles from the place we were staying and got stuck in traffic for 30 minutes...a forest fire on the side of the interstate is what it eventually was....pretty crazy...we had no idea though until we got there...you picked some good music to listen to though...smiles....
ReplyDeleteIt was crazy. And left one feeling so helpless hanging on the side of a curve high up in the air yet inching along on wet pavement. Wow. Glad you're there safely. Have fun!
ReplyDeleteLife abhors a vacuum and detests stasis, great close on that. Great write.
ReplyDeleteHa - I laugh at the poem, which is so clever, though I can't imagine that the situation is. I try to stay out of cars, with mixed success.
ReplyDeleteVery clever poem though - the comparison with the music especially. k.
Oh four hours at a crawl to a stop, that must have tested a lot of tempers. Sad about the accident
ReplyDeleteyou made me feel it, feel the the stuckness of that traffic jam {shudders} - 4 hours! tg there's bach, scarlatti to soothe one's frayed temper (though they're not everyone's cup of tea, of course)
ReplyDeleteloved "one sees nothing but a sculptured set
and senses while life abhors a vacuum
it also detests stasis"
and the image too, reminds me of a certain beauty in chaos
You captured the feeling of being caught in this traffic jam. Ugh!! I wonder if there might have been an earlier exit you could have escaped off of. Your words were apt!
ReplyDeleteTraffic is always a bummer, but you managed to make a groovy poem out of it! Loved- "soothing curled notes moving." Peace.
ReplyDeleteoh you captured that traffic jam mood so well gay...i'm kind of an expert with traffic jams cause on my way to work there always is one...streets are just too crowded and busy.. music helps..def. like your vivaldi and bach picks here
ReplyDeletemusic to untangle the mind =)
ReplyDeleteApt, original and vivid images make this perfect poem blaze with life. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteI know this situation so well and you describted it perfectly. Encased inside capsules, can't go anywhere, feeling restless, watching time get wasted. I guess one can read a book, but just want to get home. Some people do get impatient, horn, try to squeeze themselves into another lane causing more jam like you said, the knot becomes tighter. This happens when it rains, and doubly worse when there's an accident and rain.
ReplyDeleteVery spot-on poem about being in a jam.
A great capture of that experience. I am afraid my words for such a tangle would have to be bleeped. Very nice.
ReplyDeleteThe worst that can happen. We'll be sweaty,hungry and angry. All because a motorist was impatient and caused the pile-up. It's lucky Bach,Vivaldi and Scarlatti offered the soothing respite! Nice capture Gay!
ReplyDeleteHank
This is so familiar yet from a whole new perspective in your description that helped me feel your frustration. When it happened to me it was books on CD that saved me!
ReplyDeleteI do believe life is just like that...
ReplyDeleteWell described; one of the most exasperating situations of this "race" we run.
ReplyDeleteI know the feeling of being boxed in that situation and moving like a snail....I enjoy listening to music too as it makes the driving less tiring ~ Oh, well, such is life in the city ~
ReplyDelete-- we capsule-bound in cars observe
ReplyDeleteourselves in metallic colors
necklaces in a box tied together
by chance --
I love this analogy--it gives the picture from a giant's or god's point of view, and it is the road that is the string. I remember the feeling of sin when on 95 between Baltimore and Philadelphia I pulled a U-turn across the median-. I was not the only one, but still felt the guilt as if I had broken a string of pearls.
When I got to the vacuum/stasis part of the poem, my mind zoomed to the feeling of randomness in tragedies of late, and the vacuum/stasis of morality that may underlay it, so that the image of traffic jammed and necklaces tangled felt like what has been happening to prayer as of late. No matter what music we play, the distress wants a mighty powerful God--or someone--to answer.
I wonder how much of that last paragraph played into my subconscious as I wrote this, Susan. It wasn't planned but this stifling feeling of being stuck in a world without honor, without an understanding of personal ethics and a social compact has haunted me all summer. Thank you for elucidating the subtext that may have underwritten this.
DeleteUgh. I hate traffic. It always made me late to my appointments. So annoying. I hope cars can fly.
ReplyDeleteVivid slice of life that often gets passed over
ReplyDeleteI just try to steer clear of these altogether, though I have seem my share for sure. You got the pent up anxiety/rage right. The chain image is apt, since the action/reaction effect can cause more trouble than the jam itself. Glad you at least found soithing music to get by. I've been in some in NM where the channels didn't reach. Excellent in the moment description of what many experience every day.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds so miserable!
ReplyDeleteAwful. Not your poem, but being stuck like that for so long. I love your poem. You describe life. Stuck is not a good place to be.
ReplyDeleteugh...traffic! I like how you have weaved this poem. And...
ReplyDeletesoothing curled notes moving
...is a terrific line!
yikes! that would try the patience of Job, did you composw this poem while stuck? it relates to such a situation.
ReplyDeleteScarlatti....lol! curled notes indeed. Very tight poem with a lot of strands reaching out.
LADY nyo
You got a claustrophobic experience...we got an excellent poem. How we sacrifice for our art!
ReplyDeleteyet -- we capsule-bound in cars observe
ReplyDeleteourselves in metallic colors
necklaces in a box tied together
by chance -- we're stuck
inching along - braking - releasing
breaking some more - what happens then--
impatient others try ways to move
making the knot harder to untie
This description is true worldwide. Poor you, Gay.
Take it easy today.
wonderful words strung together like pearls....just sorry about traffic here there and anywhere!!
ReplyDeleteGay--you have made something as horrible as a traffic jam transcendent. Well done.
ReplyDelete