Summary

The poem begins by explaining that every day, Americans pass one another as they go about their daily lives. The speaker says that "all about us is noise," and that people carry "each / one of our ancestors on our tongues" (4-6). She imagines that, somewhere, someone is sewing, another person is repairing a car, and another person is attempting to make music with household objects. She goes on to think about mothers, farmers, and teachers, and how they spend their days.

The speaker says that we "encounter each other in words," and that the infrastructure that surrounds us is evidence of people who wanted to move beyond their immediate surroundings to "see what's on the other side" (16-21). The speaker asserts that she knows "there is something better down the road," if people are willing to search for it (22).

Addressing the historical importance of...