Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Dorianne Laux’s “Graffiti” is a vivid exploration of impermanence and the human impulse to leave a mark, set against a backdrop of urban decay. Through sharp imagery and a subdued tone, the poem illuminates the intersection of artistry, defiance, and fleeting existence.

The setting is introduced with a stark juxtaposition: the skittish birds building their nests in “what’s left of the trees” beside a landscape dominated by industrial detritus. The imagery here is poignant, with the birds embodying resilience in the face of erasure. Their “one stunned note” and “small dun selves” reflect an environment of monotony and survival, offering a counterpoint to the vibrant and chaotic creativity of the boys’ graffiti. The Southern Pacific railroad tracks and the signal tower situate the scene in a place of transience—an area where trains grind by and the world passes through but rarely lingers.

The boys, armed with grocery sacks of spray cans, transform the desolate wall into a canvas for their rebellious expressions. Words like “COCK, CUNT, KILL” are shocking and raw, capturing the intensity of their emotions and the urgency of their need to make themselves visible. These words, though crude, are described as “so carefully and beautifully made,” underscoring the paradox of graffiti as both an act of defiance and a form of artistry. The names they inscribe—“Skeet. Damon. JoJo. Cray.”—are markers of identity, declarations of existence in a world that often overlooks them.

The wall itself, “already crazy with pictures and painted words,” becomes a repository for their lives and emotions, a place where they can assert control and creativity. Yet the wall also symbolizes their impermanence. The act of one boy painting over “JoJo’s name” with red paint is strikingly symbolic: “Three smooth strokes and he’s gone.” This moment encapsulates the ephemeral nature of their defiance. No matter how boldly they inscribe themselves, their marks are subject to erasure, just as their lives are shaped by the forces of the transient and the destructive.

Laux’s use of color—“red paint,” “white lime piles,” and “skittish brown birds”—adds depth to the scene, contrasting the vibrancy of the boys’ graffiti with the muted tones of the natural and industrial landscape. The train, described as “grind[ing] by” and “pulling its row of open boxcars,” becomes a metaphor for time and motion, emphasizing the boys’ struggle to anchor themselves in a world that is constantly moving forward, often indifferent to their presence.

The poem’s structure mirrors its themes of fragmentation and continuity. The enjambment between lines propels the reader through the scene, echoing the movement of the train and the fluidity of the boys’ gestures with the spray cans. Yet there is a lingering sense of futility: the effort they put into “scrawling themselves into infinity” is undermined by the impermanence of their creations.

“Graffiti” ultimately grapples with the tension between permanence and erasure, creativity and destruction. The boys’ actions are both futile and profound—acts of rebellion against a world that might otherwise erase them, yet ephemeral in their execution. Laux captures the poignancy of this contradiction, crafting a poem that is both a tribute to and a lament for those who seek to inscribe themselves onto a fleeting canvas. The wall stands as a testament to their existence, however temporary, in a world that constantly moves on.

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