"Well, I have a very simple method of painting"
"Gas" ~~~ Edward Hopper
he stands alone at the pumps
sentinel in half light
one hand on hose ~~
other itching for a cigarette
[ he promised her he would stop ]
sun has slipped low enough to
gray-blue-tinge tree edges ~~
the country road unraveling
into hush of approaching darkness
does he think of her?
hair full of summer lightness
a voice that used to remind him ~~
"come home early for pie"
or does he not think at all
satisfied with the rhythm
of solitary duty ~~
pump the gas
sweep the floor
lock up
sleep
Oh, this got me. Especially the line 'come home early for pie."
ReplyDeleteNice poem, Helen. You have built in it begging for us to analyze the station tender and the give opinions of ways to help. I will try doing that.
ReplyDeleteWhen a partner is gone forever things do change. As a youth twenty or near, most of our boy bunch with cars, we were close. One worked in a gas station, a customer lit an explosion lighting his cigarette. The customer and my friend both died there. We missed him, just wasn't there. But my divorce was terrible for me. Lonesome yes, but I lost trust in women, I no longer trusted women. Three years later when I remarried, for me it was to be a test for loving and loyalty.
51 years and much earlier my ability to love and trust was all reinstated. You being single (I think that's your status) likely has been through some of these tests.
All that to say, "don't light your cigarette there" and that I can feel for
his loss of friendship.
A hint for him , learn to cook for himself.
p.s. Thank you for the nice comment, of the writing and of my personal doings.
Delete.
I can see why you like Hopper's work. This looks at first merely representational, but he has created such atmosphere! And I love your poem even more: the creation of character and story which ring so true that one feels for him, and with him.
ReplyDeleteI love how you emerge us deep into your chosen painting. All of which are delightful! Jae
ReplyDeleteHopper is brilliant and so is this poem. Thank you.You have captured that aching sense of loss combined with getting on with the practicalities of survival. I think this is one of your best. Chapeau !
ReplyDeleteA perfect poem for Hopper's painting! I like its whimsy, humour, but also its wistfulness and the dark currents underneath a seemingly smooth unruffled surface. I liked it a lot, Helen!
ReplyDeleteThis painting begs different interpretations. I love where it led for you.
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