What is this poem about a car accident?
July 7, 2012 3:02 PM Subscribe
Please help me find this poem about a car crash. I think it's from the New Yorker. Two drivers are in a car crash, and then they yell at each other until one of them says "wow, we were both scared," and then they feel better. Well, something like that.
Neither person in the poem is seriously injured, and they seem to bond a little bit by the end of the piece as they both admit that their panic is what made them lash out at one another. I guess this description makes it sound dumb and corny, but it's was poignant and lovely and simple. I read this poem in the last five years.
Other aspects I remember but can't swear to (you know, at poetry court, where you mustn't perjure yourself):
++ I think it was set in New England, and possibly in Vermont
++ I think the poet is a woman, and I think the poem is the first person
++ I think the other driver is also a woman
++ I'm 90 percent sure I read this in New Yorker because I'm not a huge consumer of poetry generally, but it's possible it was somewhere else
My Google fu has totally failed me. Is this ringing any poetry bells for anyone?
Neither person in the poem is seriously injured, and they seem to bond a little bit by the end of the piece as they both admit that their panic is what made them lash out at one another. I guess this description makes it sound dumb and corny, but it's was poignant and lovely and simple. I read this poem in the last five years.
Other aspects I remember but can't swear to (you know, at poetry court, where you mustn't perjure yourself):
++ I think it was set in New England, and possibly in Vermont
++ I think the poet is a woman, and I think the poem is the first person
++ I think the other driver is also a woman
++ I'm 90 percent sure I read this in New Yorker because I'm not a huge consumer of poetry generally, but it's possible it was somewhere else
My Google fu has totally failed me. Is this ringing any poetry bells for anyone?
I'm glad you asked this and I got to discover the poem, as I live not so far from Mass Ave.
posted by maryr at 12:38 AM on July 8, 2012
posted by maryr at 12:38 AM on July 8, 2012
Response by poster: Holy moly, I have lurked here for...six years? And yet even I am astonished that this worked.
posted by Charity Garfein at 1:35 AM on July 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Charity Garfein at 1:35 AM on July 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by restless_nomad at 3:30 PM on July 7, 2012 [9 favorites]