Pulled Over in Short Hills, NJ, 8:00 AM
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It’s the shivering. When rage grows
hot as an army of red ants and forces
the mind to quiet the body, the quakes
emerge, sometimes just the knees,
but, at worst, through the hips, chest, neck
until, like a virus, slipping inside the lungs
and pulse, every ounce of strength tapped
to squeeze words from my taut lips,
his eyes scanning my car’s insides, my eyes,
my license, and as I answer the questions
3, 4, 5 times, my jaw tight as a vice,
his hand massaging the gun butt, I
imagine things I don’t want to
and inside beg this to end
before the shiver catches my
hands, and he sees,
and something happens.
A lot of sense description here- shivering, rage, hot, quieting of the mind, quakes, virus, lungs pulsing, taut lips, eyes scanning, massaging of the gun butt...
ReplyDeletewhat type of drug makes you shiver? At 8am, possibly up all night driving into the morning or just coming home... Is he trying to hide something else besides the nervous senses?
I can see what you are getting at- but I think that there is more a a racial profiling situation throughout this poem. When you are reading the poem you can see that there isn't fear, but rage. When you are pulled over you are normally angry with yourself questioning, "Why would I do something so foolish?" but take a look at how the author has carefully placed the words and how the narrator isn't mad at themselves but angry at the officer who has wrongfully pulled them over.
DeleteI don't think it's a drug. The narrator is being harassed. They answer the question overand over but the officer keeps questioning. The nnarrator doesn't want the officer to know know pissed off the situation is making him/her (but probably him, and probably black or brown).
ReplyDeleteI've been pulled over a couple times when i felt i shouldn't have been, but the worse thing I feared was gwtting a ticket. That's the difference about being white. I might of been pulled over for being young, but the cops didn't assume I was a criminal or guilty of anything besides a driving violation.
I see! Yes, the questioning 3, 4, 5, times...and the rage....as if he knows this will happen before it does because of the racial cues. Thank you!
DeleteO my, good thing I'm not an English teacher... the grammar and typos are so bad!
DeleteGreat!!! beautiful description of emotions
ReplyDelete