In the Baggage Room at Greyhound

I found this poem to be very interesting, as it noted many aspects of society, from how people live, to how people act, and the positives and negatives individuals face daily. The poem was written through the eyes of an Operating Clerk and bag unloader, describing events he saw during his work routine, and the significance these events had on him and people around him. The main message i found within the poem included the racks on the bus, or the "great wooden shelves" as the poem described them. These racks on a Greyhound are used by many people, many of which are traveling to different places, believe in different ideas, and come from different cultures. In the narrators eyes, however, "the racks were created to hang our possesions, to keep us together, a temporary shift in space." In other words, it was the one place where individuals of different size, shape, and color could come together. The racks served as "God's only way of building the rickety structure of time" allowing the many types of people he created to come into unison. The many types of people are shown as the author mentions many nationalities and places within the poem, including Japanese, Mexican, Hawaiian, Sacramento, Stockton, and many others.

In the poem i aslo noticed some signs of racism and harmony. To me i interpreted the line "an indian dead with fright talking to a huge cop by the coke machine" to be some sign of tension between different races, as the cop (most likely either white or black) may be skeptical of the indian just based on his physical appearance. On the other hand, i interpreted the role of Spade as the Angel to bring signs of harmony and togetherness between the races. As described before, the bags together represent the different cultures coming together, and sense Spade physically puts the bags in the racks next to one another, his role is the Angel or peace maker.

Towards the end of the poem, i feel that the clerk narrorating the poem is quitting the job because of the tension and unfriendliness between people today. I feel that he realizes the only way people come together in this world is through the bags, proving that the relationship between cultures is negative and quite unfortunate. Within his job he see's dreams of harmony, but returning back to reality shows him that many changes need to be made in society. "Farewell ye Greyhound where i suffered so much."