From the Frontier of Writing

When I first read this poem I was caught by the immediate casual tone, with the first line containing the word "nilness" and "round", both words that are slightly different than their original root, making it feel like it is a real man behind the wheel of the car, with a certain dialect and background.

I also like how he puts the speaker of the poem onto the reader, starting in the second stanza with "towards your window, you catch sight of more...". But stepping back from the concept of the poem, there is a certain sadness that exists - with the military being side-by-side by ordinary every day people. Having them coexisting shouldn't happen, it's like it should only happen in a war zone. This sadness came through in certain words, like "cradled". The instant you hear that word, you think of cradling a baby and but that innocent image is immediately taken away when the next word is spoken: "guns". But the sadness is taken away by the relief of getting through the roadblock. The relief that leaves you with the feeling of being "a little emptier, a little spnet/ as always by the quiver in the self,/ subjugated, yes, and obedient."