Rosa (1998)

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Originally, the title poem of On the Bus with Rosa Parks was published in 1998 in The Georgia Review, but later appeared among the collections of Dove's poems the following year. The title 'On the Rose Parks Bus' derived from the experience of 1995 when Rita Dove and her daughter, Aviva, boarded a bus at a convention in Virginia. Aviva leaned over to her mother and whispered, "Hey, we're on the bus with Rosa Parks," a phrase that haunted Dove as "a meditation on history and history" and the individual.

Poetry

How she sat there,

the time right inside a place

so wrong it was ready.


That trim name with

its dream of a bench

to rest on. Her sensible coat.


Doing nothing was the doing:

the clean flame of her gaze

carved by a camera flash.


How she stood up

when they bent down to retrieve

her purse. That courtesy.

(Rita Dove, 1999)

Summary

The poem talks of Parks without mentioning it by name (except for in the title). Dove refers to the act that Rosa Parks is best known for sitting in front of a bus in the "white" portion. She "stopped up" against segregation, injustice, and bigotry by sitting down and doing "nothing."

Racism Issue

"On the Rosa Parks Bus" is one of several pieces of her book that gives voice to young black women who spoke out against the patriarchal political system during the Civil Rights movement. The following passage is taken to form "The Enactment," and depicts a young woman speaking out against racial cruelty:

Then all she's got to do is

sit there, quiet, till

the next moment finds her - and only then

can she open her mouth to ask

“Why do you push us around?”

and his answer: “I don't know but the law is the law and you

are under arrest.”

This particular poem holds a powerful message, and the poetic voice speaks directly to the reader. It also shows concern for those who were exposed to racist acts in the 1960s. Dove is composing this poem as though it were a prose. It is well implemented and uses dialog and vocabulary that are synonymous with daily conversation, but in this context it conveys important significance.

The use of young black, female voices in her poetry can be traced back to Dove's own life experiences. Dove grew up in a time when blacks' rights were violated, neglected, and even exploited. Her poems are not only thoughts and observations, but also reflections of her own actions and feelings in such tough times.

Reference

  1. Dove, Rita. 1999. On the Bus with Rosa Parks .W W Norton.
  2. Dela Cruz, Christian. Voice From the Gasp. University of Minnesota