Hard power engines,
hot tail pipes,
dark tires, the heavy
business of bumpers.
And the children,
not to be had,
darting edgeless
through the sun,
invisibly silent,
lost in the sum.
The crossing guard,
orange vest & gloves,
not much,
an evident word
against losses.
(1972)
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This poem is about the work of a poet. The school crossing guard is a
metaphor for a poet. The crossing guard wearing orange alerts drivers
to the presence of children in a location where children are not expected
to be found. The poet also calls attention to a presence, a sensory,
emotional, or intellectual aspect of life that might otherwise have been
missed. Like the school crossing guard, the poet alerts us to a quality
or dimension of experience that could have remained unobserved.
So, you are asking yourself, without this explanation, how would anyone
know this poem is about poetry? You probably wouldn’t. There is very
little evidence that this poem is about the purpose of poetry. The last
two lines are the only clue:
an evident word
against losses.
Poets use words to point out something we might otherwise miss. The
poem offers language evidence that something is “invisibly silent” yet
nevertheless, present. Without the poem offering a word-experience,
we might miss the ‘real’ experience.
Poetry provides complex evidence of the richness and magnitude of
human experience.
(2017)