Sudden Journey by Tess Gallagher - Speaker

Sudden Journey is about a woman’s reflection on her childhood. We can tell that the speaker is a girl from this line: “I’m still a boy under my breast spots,” and we can tell it’s a reflection upon her past from this line: “Maybe I’m seven in the open field.” We can tell the speaker has the highest regards for her childhood. This is based on the absolute blissful tone she writes in. There’s no form to the poem, lending to its youthful freedom. As a child, the speaker can drink from anywhere and pull down her shirt, freedom that she lacks later in life.

In this 1986 interview with Don Swaim, the poet Tess Gallagher talks about growing up as the child of a logger in the Pacific Northwest. She recalls the stillness of the forest, and the larger-than-life images of the trees. Remembering the past forms the basis for many of her poems. She reads her poem, "Sudden Journey," and talks about the influence of her husband, Raymond Carver, on her writing. "It's all right to be a little lost when reading poems," says Tess Gallagher, "It's not necessary to understand everything. It's important not to lose a sense of the unknown. Poems don't always give themselves all at once."" - From http://wiredforbooks.org/tessgallagher/

Listen to the Tess Gallagher interview with Don Swaim, 1986

pg.868