Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
Lines 13-15
who understood the bright altar of the dashboard
and how far away
a car could take him from need
- Line 13 is the "pedal to the metal," sacred line of the poem. The vocabulary changes here in a way that aligns the car with the sacred. When the speaker says "bright altar of the dashboard," we know we're in a holy place. It's also another example of the juxtaposition that this poem has held throughout. Think of it as a two-tone car. On one hand, we've got the sacred "altar" and on the other hand, we've got a pretty unsacred thing like a "dashboard." That's not really what you'd expect someone to pair together. Altars belong in churches. They're adorned with incense and flowers and usually only special people like priests can use them. But dashboards—hey, any schlub with a driver's license can have a dashboard. So the sacred and the profane (basically the opposite of "sacred") are paired together.
- Line 14 is another special indented line. This time the speaker gives us "how far away" as if this sacred place in the car can move, or transport, people. There's a feeling of isolation, but not necessarily loneliness. The line reinforces the idea of motion, which at this point we know is central to the poem.
- Line 15 repeats "car," but this time the car is taking the student from "need." The line ends on that word, so it must be important. Imagine "Need" is the name of a city, and everybody there is constantly a little irritated and… well, needy.
- Nobody feels content there. Now imagine being able to hop in a car and be taken away from Need for a little while.
- You might feel calm and content. It's as if the poem is creating this same experience. For the student, being in a car and driving is feeling content, just like creating this poem might make the speaker feel content.