“Words
can have no single fixed meaning. Like wayward electrons, they can spin away
from their initial orbit and enter a wider magnetic field. No one owns them or
has a proprietary right to dictate how they will be used.”
– David Lehman
Born in New York
City on this date in 1948, Lehman is an award-winning poet, prominent editor
and literary critic. He is currently the series editor of The Best American Poetry and general editor of the University of
Michigan Press's Poets on Poetry Series. 
A graduate of
Columbia, where he also earned a Ph.D., he has authored numerous
books of poetry including Yeshiva Boys
and The Evening Sun. His books of criticism include The Line Forms Here, and a study of
detective novels – The Perfect Murder
– was nominated for a prestigious Edgar Award.
For Saturday’s Poem, here is Lehman’s,
A graduate of
Columbia, where he also earned a Ph.D., he has authored numerous
books of poetry including Yeshiva Boys
and The Evening Sun. His books of criticism include The Line Forms Here, and a study of
detective novels – The Perfect Murder
– was nominated for a prestigious Edgar Award.
For Saturday’s Poem, here is Lehman’s,
The Difference Between
Pepsi and Coke
Can't swim; uses credit cards and pills
to combat
intolerable feelings of inadequacy;
Won't admit his dread of boredom, chief impulse behind
numerous marital infidelities;
Looks fat in jeans, mouths clichés with confidence,
breaks mother's plates in fights;
Buys when the market is too high, and panics during
the inevitable descent;
Still, Pop can always tell the subtle difference
between Pepsi and Coke,
Has defined the darkness of red at dawn, memorized
the splash of poppies along
Deserted railway tracks, and opposed the war in Vietnam
months before the students,
Years before the politicians and press; give him
a minute with a road map
And he will solve the mystery of bloodshot eyes;
transport him to mountaintop
And watch him calculate the heaviness and height
of the local heavens;
Needs no prompting to give money to his kids; speaks
French fluently, and tourist German;
Sings Schubert in the shower; plays pinball in Paris;
knows the new maid steals, and forgives her.
intolerable feelings of inadequacy;
Won't admit his dread of boredom, chief impulse behind
numerous marital infidelities;
Looks fat in jeans, mouths clichés with confidence,
breaks mother's plates in fights;
Buys when the market is too high, and panics during
the inevitable descent;
Still, Pop can always tell the subtle difference
between Pepsi and Coke,
Has defined the darkness of red at dawn, memorized
the splash of poppies along
Deserted railway tracks, and opposed the war in Vietnam
months before the students,
Years before the politicians and press; give him
a minute with a road map
And he will solve the mystery of bloodshot eyes;
transport him to mountaintop
And watch him calculate the heaviness and height
of the local heavens;
Needs no prompting to give money to his kids; speaks
French fluently, and tourist German;
Sings Schubert in the shower; plays pinball in Paris;
knows the new maid steals, and forgives her.
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