Lee Friedlander, from America by Car |
In the Passenger’s Seat
Praise to the man in the driving seat – with dials and flashing lights,
Command and Control You have all the levers at hand: brakes, gears, accelerator
All Hail to the man with the buttons!
Pity the one in the passenger’s seat
I see a world you are too occupied to notice: angles and lives,
the city-kaleidoscope
possibilities
Hail to the man with algorithms!
Did you see the double-pattern in the windscreen?
The shadow that walks like a pigeon?
The ruffles in the rain puddle?
Do you hear the counterpoint of the indictor singing to the wiper’s beat?
Thanks to Willow at Magpie Tales for the prompt. More Magpies can be found here.
x
35 comments:
Amazing take! you have given me the ad/disvantages of being in the two front seats... love it!
JJRod'z
ah, powerlessness!
Love it - especially the line - ruffles in the rain puddles:)
oh yes, like it very much, a clever take on the image, particularly liked the final line
thanks for sharing
martine
Excellent thoughts. Enjoyed it.
Great take on the prompt, great imagery in this one.
I like the different take here. Clever!
Jamie
This is wonderful. All hail to the poet who sees so much!
Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie’s Guide to Adventurous Travel
I think we can see precisiely who has a 'handle' on things, here. Very nice.
To use a baseball analogy, you covered all the bases ~ beautifully!
Wonderful piece! : )
that's what I love about this image- you caught it perfectly!
Well done, except my sympathies still lie with the guy in the passenger sear. My Magpie Tales this week is In Vince’s Car.
Do you hear the counterpoint of the indicator singing to the wiper’s beat?
All hail to the listening ear!♥ Great Magpie.☼
I really like your take on this - the detail hovering on the edge of awareness. It makes me yearn for more.
It also made me giggle - despite knowing it was from USA, I did instinctively see it as a driver side shot because we have right hand drive cars here. :D
Buttons and more buttons..where do we go from there? Don't envy the driver's seat..very sharp take!
The poems one can write when one puts ones mind to it.
Perhaps I'll have a go after all; I had decided to give this one a miss.
I like this very much. We, of destination and quantifying, it reminds me of what we have missed being otherwise occupied.
I especially adore that last line. There is something to be said of riding shotgun, as well...
The onlooker sees it all. (I puzzled for a while over 'indictor' then realised it meant indicator. I'm very slow on the uptake sometimes.
This is really neat!
the passenger has such a eye on everything
In a busy city.... let's hope the driver doesn't notice all those things! But I loved your imagination here... The last line is really fun to say!
nice..i enjoy the counter perspectives and the enthusiasm in your lines...hail indeed..smiles...and the textures you capture...even the sound of the indicator...smiles.
Clever divide!
Sometimes, though, it's better to be on the passenger's side. It's important to take a break! :D
Cheers,
Arnab Majumdar on SribbleFest.com
I am suffering the consequence of being tardy: I was planning to have a go at this one myself, but this is now the second excellent response I have seen. Will I be able to extricate myself from all this influence? We shall see. Whatever, congratulations on yours.
I like the dichotomy and contrast you have highlighted in your poem, picking up on the multiplicty of viewpoints in the photo.
'...the ruffles in the rainpuddle...' so much to see... I thought this so musical.
Wonderful! Being in the passenger seat for once opens up another world :-)
It's a spiffingly spot-on piece! I enjoyed it!
very powerful and clever take.
fantastic read.
very powerful and clever take.
fantastic read.
Making the mundane into a thoughtful and interesting poem
I'm happy as long as Ada is never in my back seat, from where she likes to drive! Haha!
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