Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Coming Back to America" by James Dickey is a vivid and dynamic poem that explores themes of disorientation, excess, and reconnection upon returning to America after time abroad. Through richly descriptive language and intense imagery, Dickey captures the jarring and surreal experience of re-entering American society, marked by a contrast between the physical and the conceptual, the immediate and the remembered.

The poem begins with the speaker and companions descending "from Europe riding the ship’s sling / Into the basement," a metaphorical image that conveys a sense of abrupt transition from one world to another, descending not only into a physical space but also into a psychological state. The reference to "forty floors of home" suggests a return to something familiar yet overwhelmingly oppressive, as if the concept of home has accumulated weight during the absence.

The narrative swiftly moves to a scene of frenzied indulgence, where the speaker and others are "drinking madly" while simultaneously reading the Gideon Bible, an activity that juxtaposes spiritual seeking with hedonistic behavior. The imagery here is intense and chaotic, reflecting the speaker’s internal turmoil and sensory overload upon re-entering the American environment. The description of Assyrian armies and "the scythes of chariots blazing like the windows of the city" infuses the scene with a sense of historical and apocalyptic violence, mirroring the internal violence of the speaker’s state of mind.

Dickey's use of the phrase "million dollars in ice cubes" outside the metal door adds a layer of absurdity and decadence to the setting, emphasizing the commodification and excess of American life. The struggle with salesmen for ice cubes to "make whole our long savage drinks" portrays a battle against a dehumanizing commercial culture that reduces even basic elements to transactions.

As the poem progresses, the speaker's physical discomfort becomes evident. The "Sleep of a Thousand Lights" and the suffocating atmosphere in the room convey a sense of entrapment and alienation. His journey to the swimming pool on the roof is depicted as an escape attempt, moving "through ceiling after ceiling" of other lives, indicating a deep need to find a space where he can breathe and reconnect with a more elemental part of himself.

The encounter with the "skinny girl lifeguard" on the roof brings a moment of human connection and vulnerability. Her story of surviving a car wreck in Bensonhurst and her subsequent actions provide a stark contrast to the artificial and superficial interactions below. Her leap into the pool symbolizes a sort of rebirth or cleansing, an image of resilience and grace amidst the city's chaos.

Dickey masterfully brings the poem to a climax with a fantastical vision of escape with the lifeguard, imagining a flight "out of that pond passing over the meaningless / Guardrail," transforming the cityscape into a backdrop for a "water ballet" of liberation and transcendent love. This sequence blurs the lines between reality and fantasy, reflecting the speaker's intense desire for connection and freedom from the constraints of his surroundings.

"Coming Back to America" is ultimately a poem about the struggle to reconcile one's identity with the shifting landscapes of home and abroad, the real and the imagined. It explores the profound impact of returning to a place that feels both familiar and utterly alien, capturing the dissonance and longing for authenticity in a world marked by spectacle and surface. Through Dickey's lyrical prowess, the poem offers a deep, albeit chaotic, meditation on what it means to come home—to oneself, to one's country, and to a shared human experience.

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