Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem “Keep Driving” is a meditation on disorientation, change, and the fluid boundaries between being lost and being found. Set in Yokohama, Japan, the poem follows the speaker and a woman named Atsuko as they navigate an ever-shifting cityscape, encountering unfamiliar streets and unexpected detours. The poem explores the themes of movement, urban transformation, and the way place and identity intertwine. Through a tone that oscillates between humor and quiet reflection, Nye captures both the anxiety and exhilaration of being adrift in an unfamiliar world.

The poem opens with Atsuko driving through an evolving landscape, past “orange cranes and complicated shipyards.” This description sets up an environment of industry and constant change. Though she has “always lived in Yokohama,” the city feels new, as if it has reshaped itself overnight while they were “off beside the sea.” This exaggeration conveys how urban environments evolve at a pace that can make even longtime residents feel like strangers. The phrase “Massive concrete, tones of gray” emphasizes the monotony of development, where uniformity replaces memory, and what was once familiar becomes indistinguishable.

The next image introduces a woman pulling groceries home “past five thousand beige apartments,” yet she still finds her own and “twists the key.” This moment highlights the paradox of urban anonymity and individual certainty—how a person can navigate a vast, impersonal city and still locate their precise place within it. The speaker acknowledges a kind of quiet respect for this woman’s ability to find her way in a place where others, including Atsuko, feel completely lost.

As they continue, Atsuko struggles to recognize any streets. “One roadside tree / staked to bamboo / looks vaguely familiar.” The detail of the tree being supported by bamboo suggests both the fragility of memory and the persistence of small, organic landmarks amid a concrete maze. The poem subtly suggests that what we cling to for orientation may not be unique—Atsuko has “seen other trees like that”—but rather, it is the act of recognition itself that provides a tenuous sense of stability.

The interplay between the speaker and Atsuko adds a human and humorous element to the experience of being lost. Atsuko asks the speaker to help her navigate, but the speaker responds, “Remember who you are talking to,” implying their own lack of direction. This moment leads to unexpected laughter, which the speaker notes was “not something I thought I would get to do in Japan this soon.” This admission suggests an underlying tension—perhaps apprehension about the unfamiliarity of the place, or a hesitancy to feel at ease so quickly. The laughter breaks through that unease, reminding both of them that being lost is not necessarily a failure, but part of the process of adaptation.

As they continue, the city’s infrastructure becomes a labyrinth. “We veer under highways, elevated tracks, clouds.” The layering of these elements—man-made and natural—reinforces the overwhelming complexity of the urban landscape. The image of the “red train” zipping by overhead acts as a contrast to their slow, confused wandering below, emphasizing the difference between those who move with purpose and those who remain caught in uncertainty.

The sense of displacement deepens as Atsuko realizes the city is “bigger than she thought it was.” This line encapsulates the expanding nature of both physical space and self-awareness. The poem suggests that a person’s understanding of their own home can shift unexpectedly, just as a city can outgrow its past familiarity. The absence of Mount Fuji—usually a grounding landmark—heightens their sense of rootlessness. “Right now everything is gray. / Only the red train for punctuation.” The train becomes a striking visual counterpoint, a moment of color in an otherwise colorless, shifting landscape.

The climax of the poem comes when the speaker, embracing the ambiguity of their situation, whispers, “Keep driving.” This moment shifts the perspective from frustration to acceptance. The speaker begins to question the very nature of being lost: “How can I be lost or found / if I have never been here before?” This philosophical musing reframes their situation—not as a failure of navigation, but as an inevitable state of newness. If one has never been in a place, there is no prior orientation to be lost from, only an open-ended sense of discovery.

The poem’s conclusion returns to the cyclical nature of their wandering. They keep finding the Toyota dock, circling through the city in an intricate dance of U-turns and missed turns. The city itself is described as “tricky,” with a rhythm that dictates movement, much like a living organism shaping its inhabitants. The final lines take a somber turn, reflecting on a foreign cemetery on a high hill. The citizens buried there had “come here planning to leave,” yet they remain, permanently settled in a place that may never have truly felt like home.

This ending ties back to the broader themes of transience and permanence. While the living experience disorientation and impermanence, the dead remain fixed. The speaker, still in motion, still unsettled, is caught in between—both present and yet untethered. The phrase “Soon I will feel as grounded” suggests that, over time, familiarity may grow, that what seems overwhelming now might eventually become known. But the reference to the cemetery also suggests an ironic permanence—that those who once felt like outsiders have now, in a sense, become part of the landscape.

“Keep Driving” captures the experience of navigating an unfamiliar world, both literally and metaphorically. Nye’s use of conversational tone, sensory detail, and humor transforms what might have been a simple anecdote about getting lost into a meditation on place, belonging, and the nature of familiarity. The poem suggests that disorientation is not just a momentary inconvenience but a fundamental aspect of life, one that reveals both the limits and the expansiveness of what we think we know. Through the simple act of continuing to drive, the poem embraces movement as its own form of understanding—suggesting that sometimes, the only way to navigate uncertainty is to keep going.

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