Meat Of Joy (close Reading Club) Forum A Place Between Places By:J D ..

Close read by stevie jean reed

OG version*************************


My dad used to brag that he had catsup in his veins;
whistling happily to himself over the burger grill at McDonald�s;
trying to generate enthusiasm for a job everyone else seemed to hate.

I watched him through the years, polishing the men�s room porcelain, or mopping the
absurdly bright, tiled floor;
happily humming a fifty�s tune no one remembers,
while laboring endlessly to keep the shine in a place
where no one would notice it.

Because to many, burger joints are just a place people quickly visit;
just somewhere between the place they were and the place they intended to go,
and soon forgotten when they reached a better location.

But my dad stayed in his place.
His place between places.
And I always wondered if he ever questioned himself
about the place he never made it to


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Close Read version in ( )




My dad used to brag that he had catsup in his veins;( a declaration of work-a-day blue collar nobility, a different era.)
whistling happily to himself over the burger grill at McDonald�s;(the poet here is showing annoyance by being cavalier in a place maligned for bloated convenience)
trying to generate enthusiasm for a job everyone else seemed to hate.(The dad is accepting his hand powered fate).
I watched him through the years,( the speakers admittance to having grow up with this feeling, and somehow , though his wishes he weren't,apart of it) polishing the men�s room porcelain, or mopping the
absurdly bright, tiled floor; ("Porcelain" more formal than toilet...perhaps a device in poetry but here written as if to say 'Toilet' is too much for him to bear, seeing that its HIS father)
happily humming a fifty�s tune no one remembers, (again annoyance at the lack of progression. The fifties an era rife with post war banalities)
while laboring endlessly to keep the shine (never ending) in a place
where no one would notice it.( life wasted in poets eyes.)
Because( poet uses "because" after last statement to imply a cause and effect of action , perhaps) to many,(a wasteland of pop culture not known to the father in his prime) burger joints are just a place people quickly visit; just somewhere between the place they were and the place they intended to go,
and soon forgotten when they reached a better location. (poet implies he AND his father had to live this life style for years, mired, while it seems others are free to move around it.)
But my dad stayed in his place.( An interesting phrase usually saved for female roles. Perhaps saying here that not rambling free like a cowboy smacks of the feminine, therefore repulsive)
His place between places.(stationary..purgatory)
And I always wondered if he ever questioned himself
about the place he never made it to
(Of course here we validate to some extent if we can believe there is regret.)


I hope i touched some points correctly .
Thanks for the poem! ::confused::
Stevie