Mexico

             A driving force in many peoples lives are their dreams. Not the dreams we have in the middle of the night, but our every day hopes and dreams that direct our lives. Successes we need to make guide us and journey's we have not yet taken lure us. The prospect that one can make a fresh start in life works hand in hand with this concept. In some cases our dreams provide a needed escape from the day to day existence we all know so well. Richard Shelton writes of just such escape in his 1978 poem "Mexico"
             The subject of the poem takes this escape regularly, "once a year"(line1). Every April, the male persona of the poem is drawn powerfully to the south. After researching Shelton I learned that he loved the southwest and Mexico, and traveled extensively throughout both areas. With that information I am convinced that the voice of the poem is his own. This draw is not light or passing, in fact, "it hits like a shovel". The effects are nearly intoxicating, enveloping all of the senses. He is "stunned into believing anything is possible"(line6,7). Just as it is sure that a new day will dawn, the answer to happiness for this man lies south of the border.
             This draw is sparked merely by looking at the sky. The guiding light for the journey is symbolized by the constellation of Scorpio. This is the second reference that is made to the desert. The clawed scorpion is a ubiquitous member of the desert community. Shelton refers to the creature as "most dangerous of friends"(line 10). Shelton has a great love of the desert. Here he shows not flat out fear of the dangerous and sometimes deadly creature, but the love and compassion one would feel for a true friend. This friend serves as a guide for the journey. A key reference in this stanza shows the stars of the constellation as "blinking like lights at a railroad crossing"(line 12). This can be seen as a point of ...

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Mexico. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 09:26, July 01, 2025, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/87979.html