Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
Lines 16-18
to speak, or to answer, the key
in having a key
and putting it in, and going.
- We're on the last lap here, gang. Line 16 opens with an infinitive phrase (that's just "to" plus a verb). And there are two of these guys, so the speaker uses repetition again to continue the forward motion of the poem. The enjambment between the stanzas emphasizes that continual motion, because line 15 ended in the middle of the phrase and line 16 picks up where it left off.
- The speaker says that the car could take the student away from having "to speak, or to answer." It's like the car can take him beyond language, in a way, to some sacred place where words aren't necessary.
- The key of line 16 is…wait for it—"the key." Just like a car needs a key to be turned on, being in a sacred place is "the key" of the poem. It's something essential and necessary.
- The final indented line, "in having a key," supports this focus. Staying true to form, this line is parallel with all the other indented lines. It repeats the word "key" to push the poem's momentum forward some more.
- But what is the key, other than that doodad that starts your car up, and that you lose three times a day. Well, the actual, physical key—what allows the student to take off in the car—is a figurative key to… what? Happiness? Contentment? Spiritual fulfillment? Life in general? The speaker doesn't spell it out for us, but we could easily say that it's the key to all of these things.
- And finally, the finish line comes into view. Line 18 opens with another one of those present tense participial phrases.
- The speaker is isolating the motion of having a key and putting it in the ignition "and going." The present tense of the last line creates a sense of continual motion, so even at the end of the poem, the feeling of continual movement is still there. This is fitting since one of the key ideas of the poem has been movement in a car. And that central idea of getting into a car and just going is what answers the teacher's question (about having a sacred space). We're also left with the speaker's point that finding a sacred place is essential (or key) for life to continue. To be truly at peace, you have to have a way to take off once and a while. Vroom vroom, y'all.