Sunday, October 23, 2011

In the Passenger's Seat


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


You are filled with calculations velocity, drift and momentum

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:

JJ Roa Rodriguez said...

Amazing take! you have given me the ad/disvantages of being in the two front seats... love it!

JJRod'z

Templeton's fury said...

ah, powerlessness!

Louise said...

Love it - especially the line - ruffles in the rain puddles:)

martine said...

oh yes, like it very much, a clever take on the image, particularly liked the final line
thanks for sharing
martine

anthonynorth said...

Excellent thoughts. Enjoyed it.

Brigid O'Connor said...

Great take on the prompt, great imagery in this one.

Anonymous said...

I like the different take here. Clever!
Jamie

Kay L. Davies said...

This is wonderful. All hail to the poet who sees so much!

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie’s Guide to Adventurous Travel

Martin said...

I think we can see precisiely who has a 'handle' on things, here. Very nice.

Helen said...

To use a baseball analogy, you covered all the bases ~ beautifully!

Maggie said...

Wonderful piece! : )

Kathe W. said...

that's what I love about this image- you caught it perfectly!

Roy Schulze said...

Well done, except my sympathies still lie with the guy in the passenger sear. My Magpie Tales this week is In Vince’s Car.

Jinksy said...

Do you hear the counterpoint of the indicator singing to the wiper’s beat?

All hail to the listening ear!♥ Great Magpie.☼

Zoe said...

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

Lyn said...

Buttons and more buttons..where do we go from there? Don't envy the driver's seat..very sharp take!

Friko said...

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.

Marylinn Kelly said...

I like this very much. We, of destination and quantifying, it reminds me of what we have missed being otherwise occupied.

Tess Kincaid said...

I especially adore that last line. There is something to be said of riding shotgun, as well...

jabblog said...

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.

Maude Lynn said...

This is really neat!

Chronicles of Illusions said...

the passenger has such a eye on everything

Margaret said...

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!

Brian Miller said...

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.

Tumblewords: said...

Clever divide!

Arnab Majumdar said...

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

Dave King said...

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.

Intelliblog said...

I like the dichotomy and contrast you have highlighted in your poem, picking up on the multiplicty of viewpoints in the photo.

Christine said...

'...the ruffles in the rainpuddle...' so much to see... I thought this so musical.

Jan Freeman said...

Wonderful! Being in the passenger seat for once opens up another world :-)

Helena said...

It's a spiffingly spot-on piece! I enjoyed it!

Maxwell Mead Williams Robinson Barry said...

very powerful and clever take.

fantastic read.

Maxwell Mead Williams Robinson Barry said...

very powerful and clever take.

fantastic read.

Trellissimo said...

Making the mundane into a thoughtful and interesting poem

Caddoc Trellis said...

I'm happy as long as Ada is never in my back seat, from where she likes to drive! Haha!