Participant Observation
If you simply behave like your surroundings,
you go unnoticed,
and can secretly observe
and take notes;
– a so-called participant observation –
So when Judy and I lived in Dallas,
1978–79,
we rented a child-free apartment
at Melody Lane Apartments,
with the communal swimming pool
just outside our door
and our 1972 Chevrolet Bel Air
down in the parking lot;
parked there like an elderly relative
or some placid ruminant
America was an anthill,
and we were actors
playing ants
The Chevy, with its enormous hull,
was a prop,
as was my job as Engineer's Aide III
at the Texas Department of Highways
& Public Transportation,
the Ira Office,
by Zachry's Asphalt Plant,
and our diligent attendance
at concerts by Bob Seger, Fleetwood Mac,
Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen,
and Bob Dylan,
in Dallas & Fort Worth;
as well as, of course, our habit
of spending Saturday evenings
at the Big G Jamboree
up in Garland;
Sleeping Single in a Double Bed
still ringing in my ears,
forty-eight years later!
Poetry by Ingvar Loco Nordin
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Written on 2026-06-26 at 11:14
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Albert Vynckier |
