California 13 is a poem describing where Hwy 13 can lead
you. It is a freeway between Berkeley and Alameda. Hwy 13 can lead you to Ashby
Ave in Berkeley. “A patch of connecting highway thru the village of a
philosopher’s theory, where nothing exists in pure logic.” (119) And describes
the landscape seen while driving down Hwy 13, silver gleam of the bay, mountain
range headings for L.A. Hwy 13 takes you to Hwy 5 to the Grapevine, which will
lead you to L.A.
Lost Angeles is a poem describing Hwy 5, four lanes wide,
from LAX to Hollywood to the ancient road to old Mexico. A couple meets on
Hollywood Blvd, they look like movie stars, they go out to a movie and then go
back to where they met, and parted their ways.
San Dijuana is a poem about a highway that leads to La Mesa,
a mini-city in San Dijuana. It describes a series of events with a drunk
couple. “a hyper filmic reality the latina and the black man often plastered in
the placid night two drunken considerate clowns amid the lush vegetation lights
from the window..” (129)
91 Bus is about a person on a bus driving down Sunset Blvd,
towards Beverly Hills. While on the bus the person observes what is going on
around him on the streets. “Santa Monica Boulevard West Hollywood to the sea
the number 4.” (127)
In these poems by David Henderson, he uses imaginary to
describe what is going on around him, he does this by describing the landscape,
people, and events. Henderson uses one common symbol in all of these poems,
which is a highway and where it leads.
Hi Amber,
ReplyDeleteI too thought that Henderson's poem was very descriptive. I particularly liked how he made mundane everyday things seem so important; as you mentioned, a ride on the bus, simple sites while traveling through California. Do you think that his status as a New Yorker in California heightened his sensitivity to what was going on around him?