The surreal

The poetry of Charles Simic reveals the effectiveness of the surreal in the work of a master. In the poem "Walking," he searches for evidence of a past neighborhood, asks : "Where is the  bus that passed this way?/...And that schoolhouse with the red fence?"  He asserts that "Miss Harding is probably still at her desk,/ Sighing as she grades papers late into the night." Not finding the street, he concludes:
                                                      "All I can do is make another tour of the neighborhood,
                                                      Hoping I'll meet someone to show me the the way
                                                      And a place to sleep, since I've no return ticket
                                                      To wherever it is I came from earlier this evening."
                                                      Charles Simic
                                                      THAT LITTLE SOMETHING
                                                       Copyright 2008 by Charles Simic
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