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Driver’s Song
I shall never reach Danville, Ohio,
Danville distant and lonely.
Black car, small moon,
in the back seat beer.
Because I’ve forgotten the roads
I shall never reach Danville, Ohio.
Over the plains, through Indiana,
where I was lonely also.
Black car, yellow moon.
My dead father keeps watch over me
from an upstairs window.
What a long way from California
and in what a fast car—
invisible to the soul.
Ahead I see death moving slowly on the road.
I know I will touch her clothing
before I ever reach Danville, Ohio.
Danville, distant and lonely.
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Paul Hoover's most recent poetry books include O, and Green: New and Selected Poems (2021) and The Book of Unnamed Things (2018). With Mexican poet Maria Baranda, he co-edited and translated The Complete Poems of San Juan de la Cruz (Milkweed Editions, 2021). Professor of Creative Writing at San Francisco University, he also edited and, in part, translated, The New World Written: Selected Poems of Maria Baranda (Yale University Press, 2021).
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So intense — but also musical. The emotional impact makes me want to stop to process the event but the rhythm and repetition keep me moving. LOVE this poem.
Posted by: Elaine Equi | April 09, 2023 at 09:55 AM
What remarkably great music inside this poem--such a blend of sorrow and supreme pleasure mixed in its refrains, in all the lines, in beautifully expressed thoughts like "Black car, small moon / in the back seat beer," and "...in what a fast car / invisible to the soul." Superb! What an ear for the line, and what intelligence in the message. I love how this song first reaches us through its sound, and then the sense quickly catches up, to create a magic I know I'll come back to while reading this poem many more times to come. Thanks for this Paul and thank you Terence for the wise choice.
Posted by: Don Berger | April 09, 2023 at 10:19 AM
Don: Thank you for the comment, my friend.
Posted by: Terence Winch | April 09, 2023 at 10:29 AM
Great opening line, orchestrating the whole.
Posted by: David Lehman | April 09, 2023 at 10:33 AM
love it. It's a song!
Posted by: Jack Skelley | April 09, 2023 at 10:55 AM
How fast the car of time carries our souls. Thanks for the beautiful reminder.
Posted by: Doug Pell | April 09, 2023 at 11:02 AM
Before I even got to the words, the visuals held my heart. Then the frank, open, undecorated truth in words. The city's name as metaphor.
"Because I’ve forgotten the roads" = our fragility
"I know I will touch her clothing" = the mystery introduces a whole story to our imaginations, introducing a character offstage.
I am strengthened by this poem.
Terence, you keep producing pearls from that ship that sailed.
Posted by: Grace Cavalieri | April 09, 2023 at 11:31 AM
Beautiful poem, Paul. Thank you.
Posted by: Barbara Henning | April 09, 2023 at 11:44 AM
It sings to me. Alleluiah!
Posted by: Clarinda | April 09, 2023 at 12:01 PM
It's all about destination and we're headed for Danville. Beautiful poem. Gorgeous photo, too.
Posted by: Anne Harding Woodworth | April 09, 2023 at 12:02 PM
Grace: Thanks for tuning in. Always great to get your take.
Posted by: Terence Winch | April 09, 2023 at 12:29 PM
A beautiful, soulful poem. Love it.
Posted by: Eileen | April 09, 2023 at 03:24 PM
I love the way the repetition of certain phrases (black car, distant and lonely, Danville Ohio) create a stasis in contrast to the forward motion of the automobile, the way death always awaits no matter our movement through life.
Posted by: Geoffrey Himes | April 10, 2023 at 07:17 AM
Beautiful, like a Carter family song.
Posted by: Chris Mason | April 10, 2023 at 09:40 AM
A really nice poem, Paul.
Been such a long time since we saw each other -- let's meet in Danville one day. :)
Posted by: Tom Mandel | April 11, 2023 at 11:52 AM