Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Tulsa" by John Updike is a contemplative and somewhat critical poem that captures the poet's impressions of Tulsa, Oklahoma, presenting a city marked by contrasts between past prosperity and present decline. Updike skillfully sketches a landscape that reflects both the remnants of a booming oil town and the quieter, somewhat melancholic reality of its current state. The poem delves into the themes of economic boom and bust, urban renewal, and the stark disparity between the city's grand ambitions and its more modest, everyday reality.

Updike begins the poem with a reference to Oral Roberts, a well-known televangelist based in Tulsa, describing the city as not just "Oral Roberts’ city of heavenly glitz" but as embodying a kind of dream "in dreadful taste." This opening sets a tone of skepticism towards the flashy, ostentatious aspects of Tulsa's culture and history, suggesting a disconnect between the city's lofty aspirations and the taste or substance behind them.

The poem then shifts to the Gilcrease Museum, known for its extensive collection of art and artifacts related to the American West. Updike mentions "thirty thousand arrowheads and countless canvases of melting cowboys in pathetic-prairie pink," a description that evokes a sense of overabundance and perhaps a touch of the absurd in the way the city clings to and displays its heritage. The term "pathetic-prairie pink" imbues the scene with a sense of fading glory and kitsch, highlighting a romanticized, somewhat trivialized view of the West.

However, it is the "vacant lots" that impress the poet most, symbolizing the real heart of the city for Updike. These lots, described as "a wilderness of parking space and brave renewal schemes," represent Tulsa's attempts at urban renewal and development, which seem to falter in comparison to the city's past vibrancy. The phrase "the least false note, pawn shops" starkly contrasts with the earlier descriptions of grandeur, grounding the poem in the reality of economic hardship and the survival strategies of everyday people.

The narrative of economic fluctuation continues with the line "Oil money like a flash flood came and went," a powerful metaphor for the transient and sometimes destructive nature of wealth that can dramatically reshape a city's landscape and fortunes. Updike uses the image of a skyscraper "snapped off like a stick" to illustrate the abrupt downturns that can follow such rapid economic booms.

The poem closes with the Arkansas River, "pokes muddily along," and a "rusty train" filling the downtown with its blast—a sound that the "Cherokee street people blink away." These final lines paint a picture of a city that is enduring, albeit in a diminished state, with its residents somewhat inured to the noisy, gritty reality of their environment. This closing scene solidifies the poem's theme of endurance amidst decline, and the resilience of a city and its people in the face of faded dreams and economic shifts.

Through "Tulsa," John Updike presents a nuanced, vivid portrait of a city that is both a symbol of American ambition and a testament to the more complex, often challenging reality of urban life in the wake of economic change. The poem invites reflection on the impacts of economic booms and busts on the cultural and physical landscape of American cities.

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