Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

David Lehman’s "Madison Avenue" presents a fragmented, impressionistic portrait of a world shaped by commerce, media, and personal entanglements. The poem moves in a stream-of-consciousness style, intertwining advertising culture, sexual politics, existential reflections, and the mechanics of modern life in a way that captures the glossy yet precarious energy of Madison Avenue—a street long associated with the advertising industry. Lehman’s approach is elliptical, assembling images and anecdotes like flashes of memory or snippets of overheard conversation, constructing a vision of dislocation and irony.

The poem begins with a paradoxical assertion: "But it turned out to be a decent deal for the women." This immediately raises questions—what deal is being referred to, and how is its fairness determined? The next line, "The mirror," is both a literal object and a metaphor for self-perception, possibly suggesting the ways in which women are conditioned to see themselves within the world of advertising and media. The idea of women’s roles in this system is underscored by "She read bodice rippers for a living", implying that female fantasy and commercial fiction are part of the marketplace.

As the poem progresses, it introduces elements of personal and cultural instability. The "hysterical phone call", the "husband [who] went to New Jersey", and the "black lace visible under her dress-for-success suit" suggest a tension between professional ambition and personal identity, particularly for women navigating corporate spaces. The "dress-for-success suit" evokes 1980s careerism, where women’s participation in male-dominated fields often came with rigid expectations.

The setting is cemented in the lines: "When I worked at 444 Madison Avenue one Friday night". This personal anecdote situates the speaker within the high-powered advertising world, where capitalism and human desire intermingle. The mention of "Man’s a toilet-trained ape, everywhere in chains" references Rousseau’s The Social Contract, highlighting the contradiction between civilization and instinct, discipline and freedom—a fitting theme for a poem about Madison Avenue, where persuasion and control dictate public consciousness.

In one of the more unexpected juxtapositions, the "urologist holding a test tube to the light / Had beauty in his eyes." This momentary beauty within a clinical or diagnostic setting introduces an ironic contrast between scientific objectivity and the human longing for transcendence. The line, "It was a warm January evening", acts almost like a cinematic establishing shot, offering a brief moment of atmospheric pause before the narrative fragments resume.

The poem oscillates between corporate and personal tensions: "Somehow she ripped his jacket at the party. What was that photographer doing? But she wanted it." This passage suggests a chaotic, possibly sexual encounter captured by an omnipresent lens, emphasizing themes of surveillance and performance. It also raises questions of agency, as the ambiguous "she wanted it" leaves open interpretations of desire, power, and coercion.

A broader commentary on language and industry emerges with "The need to develop new euphemisms for snow." This could refer to advertising’s relentless rebranding efforts, or even the necessity of disguising harsh realities with softer language—perhaps alluding to drug culture, weather metaphors in business talk, or the shifting language of desire and manipulation.

The final lines emphasize the instability of this world: "No one's job is safe, and neither is sex". The connection between employment and intimacy suggests that both are precarious, transactional, and subject to change. "Comic books read by convicts" introduces a note of escapism and subversion—does this imply a critique of popular culture, or a recognition of the way all media serves as distraction? The references to polling ("The polls were faked, / Were not") reflect a postmodern skepticism about truth and perception, while "the third drink didn't taste as good / Afterwards" captures a classic moment of disillusionment—a night out or a deal made that seemed exciting in the moment but left a bitter aftertaste.

The final lines, "Yellow was the color. A slow curve.", are enigmatic. Yellow is often associated with caution, decay, or the artificial glow of city lights, while a "slow curve" could refer to a literal road, the trajectory of a life or career, or the gradual decline of something once promising.

Structurally, the poem avoids punctuation and traditional syntax, creating a breathless, collage-like effect. This reflects the relentless pace of Madison Avenue, where thoughts, images, and transactions blur together. Lehman’s free-associative style mirrors the disorienting effects of advertising itself—an industry built on suggestion, illusion, and the manipulation of desire.

Ultimately, "Madison Avenue" captures the glossy, transient world of advertising and its intersections with identity, power, and memory. Lehman presents a landscape where work and desire merge, where perception is everything, and where no one—whether in business or in love—is truly secure.

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