toll booth lit for Christmas —
from my hand to hers
warm change
Published by
Michael Dylan Welch
Michael Dylan Welch is poet laureate of Redmond, Washington, and curator for two poetry reading series in Redmond. His latest poetry book is True Colour. He is a longtime officer of the Haiku Society of America, and proprietor of National Haiku Writing Month (www.nahaiwrimo.com). His personal website is www.graceguts.com, devoted mostly to poetry.
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I love it, it evokes the the smell of exhaust fumes, the sounds of motors and coins, the flash of Christmas lights, the whoosh of Truckers' air brakes, the feeling of we're getting home for Christmas. Thank you.
I love that many of the readers felt their palms tingle with this poem… what could be better to indicate capturing the moment… the significance of a cold night in this season and the warmth exchanged out the window!… (it is possible to read this a different way… the passing of coins to the driver's hand (hers) in the front seat from the passenger seat…to be put into the toll booth slot… etc…(so passed between lovers inside the car) but I think the other image from the car to the coin~taker (so the warmth of the season exchanged to a stranger even in the most ordinary circumstances) may be the main intention, both are meaningful to me… and the possibilities suggests how wonderful this little poem is…
I love that many of the readers felt their palms tingle with this poem… what could be better to indicate capturing the moment… the significance of a cold night in this season and the warmth exchanged out the window!… (it is possible to read this a different way… the passing of coins to the driver's hand (hers) in the front seat from the passenger seat…to be put into the toll booth slot… etc…(so passed between lovers inside the car) but I think the other image from the car to the coin~taker (so the warmth of the season exchanged to a stranger even in the most ordinary circumstances) may be the main intention, both are meaningful to me… and the possibilities suggests how wonderful this little poem is…
nice. I can feel it.
Not bad.
.In fact quite good – I have no comparison for this that comes readily to mind. Well done!
I can't do against ist, I must translate:
d?jkapu d?sze
feny? ? k?zmeleg apr?t
ny?jtok a l?nynak
My palm tingled when I read it. Good work!
Dear Michael, What a great Christmas poem! Thank you.
I love it, it evokes the the smell of exhaust fumes, the sounds of motors and coins, the flash of Christmas lights, the whoosh of Truckers' air brakes, the feeling of we're getting home for Christmas. Thank you.
warm change means so very much this time of year…Thanks, Michael.
Lovely sentiment, Michael.
I love that many of the readers felt their palms tingle with this poem… what could be better to indicate capturing the moment… the significance of a cold night in this season and the warmth exchanged out the window!… (it is possible to read this a different way… the passing of coins to the driver's hand (hers) in the front seat from the passenger seat…to be put into the toll booth slot… etc…(so passed between lovers inside the car) but I think the other image from the car to the coin~taker (so the warmth of the season exchanged to a stranger even in the most ordinary circumstances) may be the main intention, both are meaningful to me… and the possibilities suggests how wonderful this little poem is…
I love that many of the readers felt their palms tingle with this poem… what could be better to indicate capturing the moment… the significance of a cold night in this season and the warmth exchanged out the window!… (it is possible to read this a different way… the passing of coins to the driver's hand (hers) in the front seat from the passenger seat…to be put into the toll booth slot… etc…(so passed between lovers inside the car) but I think the other image from the car to the coin~taker (so the warmth of the season exchanged to a stranger even in the most ordinary circumstances) may be the main intention, both are meaningful to me… and the possibilities suggests how wonderful this little poem is…
Thanks for all the comments here. For more discussion on this poem, you might want to visit the Haiku Foundation blog site at http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/2010/02/04/viral-5-5/.
Michael