“Road Sign on Interstate 5,” which received an honorable mention in the Rattle poetry prize and first appeared in Rattle #30, is now available on the Rattle website both as text and as an audio recording of me reading the poem.
The simplified tale of this poem’s creation is that I wrote it almost entirely in one sitting. But the more complete story is that it actually represents a kind of revision of several previous, less successful attempts at writing about my experience growing up on the U.S.-Mexico border.
I had seen the immigrant crossing sign numerous times during trips through San Diego. But it was not until I began to explain the significance of the sign to my wife, an Englishwoman, that I realized its symbolic power. My explanation of the human circumstances behind the sign and its necessity left her in tears. Sometime later, this poem came into focus on the page. Enjoy.
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10 Comments
so now i’ve heard one of your poems! i was starting to believe that maybe you didn’t actually write poems, just about them.
i liked it. i didn’t read your post at first and just skipped straight to poem, so the descriptions in the first half made me smile and then giggle, as i realized what you were describing. i really liked the whole headlights and momentum yielding a flight to freedom aspect. good connection.
Hey, thanks, Nathan! Always nice to “see” you.
Loved the poem. I had seen the sign before, as part of a piece of photojournalism we represented when I worked for the agency. I could not believe it was real when I first saw it, I thought it was a piece of propaganda.
It’s real. And became an ordinary part of my experience, until explaining it to Val brought home the extraordinary nature of the need for such a sign. Glad you enjoyed the poem.
such a stunner. hey, you are good! xoxo, mich
Thanks, Mich. Now gotta pull something together for our exchange!
Thank you for writing this poem. It’s necessary.
Peace+
Thea
Brilliant poem! Congrats.
Thanks, Collin!
Thanks, Thea. Nice to be in touch again.