~drive~ Poem by E Nigma

What can he do about her lying - nothing really - just let her know he knows her reputation so she doesn't try to scam him. But I have the feeling in this world the poem presents LYING is a survival skill. So you can't condemn it entirely; rather people have to learn to trust those who are worthy and NOT LIE TO THEM. Perhaps that's why he keeps her in his car as he drives around like a latter-day knight-errant: he wants her to learn HOW TO TRUST someone. I hope that's the case. I like the way you end this poem with the mundane details of getting gas. It sets just the right tone to show nothing will be quickly resolved and this life with his nocturnal driving will continue. Perhaps ad infinitum.

DRIVE is exactly the right title, it could be a noun identifying the EVENT of the poem, or a verb emphasizing what the last line affirms, the speaker will continue to drive ad infinitum. But he's not driving away from things and people, he's really driving to them, going into the thick of things, where life is at its most ambiguous and puzzling. He knows he won't be able to make sense of it all but he persists in trying. The second stanza was especially moving to me. It reveals the sorrows of life on earth which is far older than the people presently feeling it or witnessing it. But he doesn't CAST A COLD EYE as Yeats suggested. Instead there is a welling up of emotion and fellow-feelings. As for his passenger who is apparently famous for lying (See next box)