Driving Lessons, ” by Neal Bowers and “the Lanyard, ” by Billy Collin

Poetry is often able to relay messages in a significantly different ways than pros is able to. It is therefore used as an alternative means to get across a message. Two classic poems, “Driving Lessons,” by Neal Bowers and “The Lanyard,” by Billy Collin are able to do just so. However, even within poetry, different poems give way to different messages. The way in which the poem is engineered can relay the same idea from two very distinct points of view – such as the poems mentioned above. While both “Driving Lessons” and “The Lanyard” depict the common theme of a mother-child relationship – specifically regarding the aspect of dependency – the tones in which they are written are very different and thus communicate two different points. “Driving Lessons,” written by Neal Bowers, relays the message through a young man’s driving lesson. Bowers highlights the son’s relationship with mother in this intimate setting – confined in a car. Flashbacks illuminate the true dynamic between the two and the rest of the family. Here, the young man is caught in between the crossfire between his parents of whom he illustrates as “my father impatient, my mother/ trying hard to smile” (Bowers 37-38). He can see through the façade his parents put on which disturbs him greatly. Once walked out on by his mother for a short period of time, he recognizes the vitality of her presence for him and his family. Even within that short period of time in which she was gone he understands how she has shaped him as a person, as he says, “the boy I would have been if/ my mother had kept on walking” (Bowers 29,30). “The Lanyard,” by Billy Collins also depicts the mother-son relationship. The protagonists of the two poems resemble each other as, again, an older man flashes back to his past when he was a young boy. In this poem, the setting is not a somber one, but a pleasant experience at summer camp which can be inferred by the serene description of the setting, “I saw at a workbench at a camp/ by a deep Adirondack lake” (Collins 9-10). He recalls the first gift he tried to give his mother in appreciation for all that she has done for him. Yet, he is ashamed of the fact that he has given her an insignificant piece of lanyard as compensation. Collins writes, “Here are thousands of meals, she said,/ and here is clothing and a good education./ And here is your lanyard, I replied.” (Collins 27-29). Through his dissatisfaction of his present, the boy shows his awareness of his dependence on his mother in every aspect of his life. Nevertheless, he does not let this disappointing feeling overtake him as he recalls, “you can never repay your mother.” Both poems evidently express a mother-child relationship. Yet, it is blatant that they express this theme in very different ways – overwhelmingly via the tone of the poems. Bowers’ “Driving Lessons” expresses a distraught tone while “The Lanyard,” by Collins exudes a blissful tone. One way in which the tones are expressed differently is in the settings. Bowers places his protagonist in a small, dark, empty, and confined area, “weedy parking lot,/ the failed stores of the old mall/ make a dark wall straight ahead;” (Bowers 36-38). The expression of emptiness and darkness reappears throughout the poem usually in regards to his driving whether it be in regards to the parking lot “out beyond the light poles” (Bowers 3) or simply steering “way across this emptiness” (Bowers 45). This driving is a metaphor for his mother’s walk-out which left their family in emptiness. On the other hand, Collins, “The Lanyard” is not a dark poem and. Instead , it paints a vibrant picture full of color in the reader’s head. Collins immediately describes the room as “pale blue” (Collins 2) to give color to his imaginary world. The lanyard too is described as “red and white.” Color equates with excitement and life in a readers mind. So too, the protagonist is trying to repay his mother who gave him life in the physical and emotional sense. Similarly, the setting at a summer camp in the Adirondacks, as mentioned above, depicts a scenic setting befitting for a joyful occasion. The tone is used as a tool to relay a different message in each of the poems. “Driving Lessons” tells the story of a young man’s frustration with his dependence on his mother. He understands that the dependence on a mother is universal, but is upset that his mother chose to ignore it. The hardships that his mother has caused his family are significant. It is so significant that the boy wishes that he can walk out on his mother, too. However, he does not choose to ignore the feelings of those around him. Contrary to this, “The Lanyard” only focuses on the good that the mother has done for the child. He is comfortable with being dependant on his mother and it has caused him to love her more dearly. Evident, two poems can encompass the same elements but use different literary tools to relay different messages.