"What the Motorcycle Said" (5)

What The Motorcycle Said

Br-r-ram-m-m, rackety-am-m, OM, Am: All-r-r-room, r-r-ram, ala-bas-ter- Am, the world’s my oyster. I hate plastic, wear it black and slick, hate hardhats, wear one on my head, that’s what the motorcycle said. Passed phonies in Fords, knocked down billboards, landed on the other side of The Gap, and Whee, bypassed history. When I was born (The Past), baby knew best. They shook when I bawled, took Freud’s path, threw away their wrath. R-r-rackety-am-m. Am. War, rhyme, soap, meat, marriage, the Phantom Jet are shit, and like that. Hate pompousness, punishment, patience, am into Love, hate middle-class moneymakers, live on Dad, that’s what the motorcycle said. Br-r-r-am-m-m. It’s Nowsville, man. Passed Oldies, Uglies, Straighties, Honkies. I’ll never be mean, tired, or unsexy. Passed cigarette suckers, souses, mother-fuckers, losers, went back to Nature and found how to get VD, stoned. Passed a cow, too fast to hear her moo, "I rolled our leaves of grass into one ball. I am the grassy All." Br-r-r-am-m-m, rackety-am-m, OM, Am: All-gr-r-rin, oooohgah, gl-l-utton- Am, the world’s my smilebutton.

The tone of this unconventional poem is very arrogant and rebellious. The motorcycle, which could represent any young man with a similar personality, seems to think he knows it all. Yet Van Duyn shows the inconsistencies of his thinking. For example, he says that he hates "middle-class moneymakers," yet he "live(s) on Dad." Even though he acts like he's older, he's still dependent on his father. The "Br-r-r-am-m-m, rackety-am-m, OM, Am" noises are examples of onomatopoeia, meant to make the motorcycle more vivid. I interpret this as maybe likening the man's arrogant statements to the loud, harsh noises a motorcycle makes. However, he choppy sentences give the poem a good rhythm.