Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

David Wagoner’s Vacation is a reflective, biting commentary on the constructs of work, leisure, and exploitation, particularly as they intersect with the lives of Indigenous peoples. Through a candid encounter with an Indian man, the speaker exposes the contradictions and emptiness inherent in the modern concept of "vacation," while juxtaposing it against the stark realities of dispossession and survival.

The poem opens with a strikingly direct question: “How come you’re not working?” The Indian man’s inquiry sets the tone, immediately questioning the leisure the speaker enjoys. His attire—“jeans and most of a shirt, one shoe and a Stetson”—paints a vivid picture of someone living in conditions of hardship and resourcefulness. This imagery, contrasting with the speaker’s privilege of "vacation," underscores the disparity between their worlds.

The Indian man’s struggle to grasp the concept of vacation—“He picked up the word / And muttered it, trying it on himself. It didn’t fit.”—is poignant. This moment encapsulates the alienation of a person whose life is defined by survival, not by the luxury of taking time off. The notion of saving up for leisure is alien to him, as his existence has been reduced to scraping by in a system that offers no reprieve.

The poem’s setting—“half of Montana: / A prairie stretching past a jail and a junkyard”—evokes a bleak, desolate landscape. These details—the jail, the junkyard, the poisoned baits, and the inhospitable conditions—serve as metaphors for the systemic neglect and degradation faced by the Indigenous community. The imagery of “a vulture can’t make a living” highlights the barrenness of the land and the absence of opportunity, while the phrase “nobody counts much, with or without a treaty” gestures to the broken promises and marginalization of Native peoples.

The Indian man’s reflection on his life—“I saved up thirty-nine years, that’s all I got. / The years.”—resonates as a critique of a life reduced to mere endurance. His metaphor of building a vacation “like a house. One brick at a time” illustrates the futility of aspiring to a concept alien to his circumstances. The statement conveys both the physical labor he is familiar with and the impossibility of leisure as a reality in his life.

The speaker’s interaction with the Indian man culminates in a transactional moment: “If I had a brick, I’d drink it.” The bitter humor in this line underscores the depth of the man’s despair. When the speaker gives him “the price of a brick,” the gesture is both an acknowledgment of the man’s need and an admission of the speaker’s inability to offer any meaningful help. This interaction underscores the futility of charity as a solution to systemic injustice.

The speaker’s self-awareness grows in the latter part of the poem, as they grapple with the hollowness of their own vacation. They reflect: “I vacated a house / And went to a vacant place palmed off on the Indians / For recreation, in order to recreate, supposedly, / A self worth carrying in this hod on my shoulders.” The use of the word "vacated" highlights the emptiness of the act, while “a vacant place palmed off on the Indians” emphasizes the historical displacement and exploitation of Native lands. The phrase “to recreate, supposedly, / A self worth carrying” critiques the idea of vacation as a means of self-renewal, exposing it as a shallow construct that fails to address deeper existential or moral dilemmas.

The final lines—“That end of Montana is still the end of Montana. / This is my work, and this is the end of it.”—are heavy with resignation. The speaker acknowledges the unchanging reality of the place and their own complicity in its history. The repetition of “the end” suggests both finality and futility, as the speaker confronts the limitations of their perspective and their inability to effect change.

In Vacation, Wagoner masterfully intertwines personal reflection with social critique. The poem juxtaposes the privilege of leisure with the realities of survival, highlighting the inequities and absurdities of a system that commodifies rest while perpetuating exploitation. Through vivid imagery and a deeply human encounter, Wagoner challenges readers to question their own assumptions about work, leisure, and justice.

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