“Freeway 280" by Lorna Dee Cervantes
Literary Analysis
Lorna Dee Cervantes considers herself “a Chicana writer, a feminist writer, [and] a political writer.” One of the major themes in her poetry is the effect of urban sprawl on the ethnic and poor communities. The poor areas are often affected by large urban projects resulting in community displacement. Her poem “Freeway 280” is a prominent example.
The cozy cottages embraced by the wild rose bushes stand along side the miserable cannery. However, the wretched cannery is tolerable compared to the formidable new freeway. The “raised scar” is a metaphor for the freeway looming high above the ground. The scar will always be there, covering the deep wound suffered by the community. The “wild abrazos” and “man-high red geraniums” are quite empowering, yet the inhuman strength of the giant freeway quietly overpowers them. The tone is quite hopeless.
In the second stanza, the narrator suddenly lifts the tone and announces to the readers the sprouting of the new grasses reminding the readers the resilience of nature, and the spirit of the displaced community. The phrases “raised scar” and the “fake windsounds” clearly convey the poet’s disapproval of the freeway. The old trees, like the old women who come to gather the fruit and the greens growing on the ground, are the guardians of the community spirit.
The tone of the third stanza is reflective, the narrator who once was eager to get out of the binding ties of the community and to explore the new frontiers has come back to find her own roots. She, perhaps, realizes the rigidity of the “open lanes” that took her away on the open road of life. Her displeasure of the old canneries is clear from the phrases: “smell of tomatoes burning,” “swing shift,” and “the greasy summer air.” Now she wonders whether the part of her that she left behind is dead, or is it just waiting to bloom? Is it a “corpse” or a “loose seed?”
The form follows the meaning. The change in the tone, line-lengths, and the rhythm are consistent with the meaning of the poem. The lines of the first stanza are short; the phrase “gone now” conveys a sense of hopelessness. The short phrase — “The freeway conceals it” — has an air of finality to it. The lines of the second stanza are longer and deliberate. After a full one and half-line build-up, the poet quietly slips in the news about the new grasses sprouting. The tone suddenly picks up, becomes stronger, and it doesn’t let up till the end of the second stanza. The narrator reflects back on her life in the third stanza; the narrator has gained perspective. The poem ends with the word “loose seed,” implying that the narrator is optimistic.
The imagery lets a reader experience the sights and the smells of the cannery and the cozy town. I found the absence of sound in the poem a powerful poetic device, representing the silencing of the community’s voice. Only sound the reader hears is that of the freeway, and that sound is inhuman.
Most readers will identify with the feelings that uber-urbanization of the landscape evokes.
