North Coast Town
Out beside the highway, first thing in the morning,
nothing much in my pockets but sand
from the beach. A Shell station (eith their Men's locked)
a closed hamburger stand.
I washed at a tap down beside the changing sheds,
stepping about on mud. Through the wall
smell of the vandels' lavatory,
and an automatic chill flushing in the urinal.
Eat a floury apple, and stand about. At this kerb
sand crawls by, and palm fronds here
scrape dryky. Car after car now - it's like a boxer
warming-up with the heavy bag, spitting air.
A car slows and I chase it. Two hoods
going shooting. Tattoos and greasy fifties pompadour.
Rev in High Street, drop their first can.
Plastic pennants on the distilled morning, everywhere;
a dog trotting and someone hoses down a pavement;
our image flaps in shop fronts; smoking on
past the pink 'Tropicana' motel (stucco, with sea shells);
the RSL, like a fancy-dress Inca; the 'Corination',
a warehouse picture show. We pass
bulldozed acres. The place is becoming chrome,
tile-facing, and plate-glass: they're making California.
Pass an Abo, not attempting to hitch, outside town.
In the poem “North Coast Town” written by Robert Gray, there are many concepts of journeys that are explored. Two main concepts of journeys that are explored throughout this poem is that the small town is becoming more like America “Americanism” and also that the town is becoming more commercialized. From reading this poem, the reader is able to see that this small town was once a normal Australian town, but is changing every day on influences from other countries.
One technique that Robert Gray uses in his poem to create the image of time going by slowly is alliteration and repition. From the quote “Car after car now…” the reader can see that the persona is standing and watching what is happening in this town. The persona can see that this town has changed drastically over time from the influences of Americanism “a closed hamburger stand” and that the peoples living in the town have changes so much from commercialism “Tattoos and greasy 50’s pompadour”.
Another technique that Robert Gray has used in this poem is visual imagery. From the quote “A car slows down and I chase it. Two hoods shooting”, it can create a clear image of what the people in the car look like. It shows the audience that the people in this town have lack of spirit and modern values. Colloquial language also creates a negative image of what the people in the town looks like “Rev in high street, drop their first can”.
Overall, it can be seen that Robert Gray has written a poem about a town which has been influenced on many things from other countries. From this, it has changed what the town looks like and how the people act. The persona was going through a physical and mental journey as he is observing the town and how much it has changed over time and how the people are being influenced by Americanism and commercialism.