Freeway+280

=Freeway 280 =  Las casitas near the gray cannery, nestled amid wild abrazos of climbing roses and man-held red geraniums are gone now. The freeway conceals it all beneath a raised scar.

But under the fake windsounds of the open lanes, in the abandoned lots below, new grasses sprout, wild mustard remembers, old gardens come back stronger than they were, trees have been left standing in their yards. Albaricoqueros, cerezos, nogales... Viejitas come here with paper bags to gather greens. Espinaca, verdolagas, verbabuena...

I scramble over the wire fence that would have kept me out. Once, I wanted out, wanted the rigid lanes to take me to a place without sun, without the smell of tomatoes burning on swing shift in the greasy summer air.

Maybe it's here en los campos extranos de esta ciudad where I'll find it, that part of me mown under like a corpse or a loose seed.

History
 = = Lorna Dee Cervantes was born in 1954. She is the author of several books of poetry many assorted poems. She lives in Boulder, Colorado. This poems namesake, Freeway 280 is a north-south highway in California near San Jose.

Vocabulary

 * Las casitas-little house
 * Abrazos-hug
 * Albaricoqueros-apricot tree
 * Cerezos-cherry tree
 * Nogales-walnut tree
 * Espinaca-spinach
 * Verdolagas-purslane
 * Yerbabuena-mint
 * "En los campos extranas cle esta ciudad"-In the strange fields of the city

Paraphrase
 The house by the cannery, surrounded by roses and geraniums is gone now. The freeway covers it all up. But under the sounds of the highway, in the ground below, new plants appear, stronger than ever before, many fruits and herbs. I climb over the fence. Once, I wanted to leave, get away from the sun and smells here. I'm trying to find it here in the city, the part of me I lost.

Literary Devices

 * Cervantes uses free verse with no particular rhyme scheme or meter.
 * There is imagery used in this poem, especially describing the plants in the second stanza and the tomatoes in the third stanza. When she describes the house and the plants she uses much more vivid language with more imagery than when she describes the freeway or civilization.
 * Cervantes uses a lot of similes and metaphors to illustrate her opinions about things, for example calling the freeway a scar.
 * In the second stanza, she repeats sets of three plants. This gives it kind of a rhythmic feel, adding to the charm of the garden.
 * These plants are all plants that came be homegrown in California.
 * After these plants are listed, an ellipsis is used.
 * This poem uses Spanish in a very interesting way. It emphasizes certain words and especially is used to describe the house, garden, and way of life there.
 * The tone of the poem is lonesome and melancholy. This compliments even the surface level interpretation, even the paraphrase seems dejected and gloomy.
 * In the last stanza, the lines are shorter, sounding broken.

Interpretations
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. In terms of one persons life, their struggle between their quiet country raising and the temptation of a busy city life. 2. As a commentary on modern civilization and it’s impact on nature 3. In terms of one persons life, a struggle between the culture the were born into and the modern majority.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">This poem seems to be comparing two different aspects of life, the more urban vs. rural.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">This could be interpreted on several levels:

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Individual Analyses
Sydney Chris Kevin