The form of Robert Hayden’s “[American Journal]” is unique; it features phrasings and clauses separated by multiple spaces within the lines. Many poets have since structured their poems this way, but Hayden’s is done for a definite purpose—not just for shock value as so many postmodernists have been prone to do.
The poem features fourteen sections of journal notes written by the alien visitor. Apparently, the alien researcher is visiting other places as well, but this one happens to be his [American Journal].
“here among them the americans this baffling ”
The speaker notes that “the americans” are varied and extreme; they are noisy and restless and have an “almost frightening energy.” These are simply notes that the speaker is making before he writes his final report to “The Counselors,” who are his superiors back on his home planet.
He reveals that he disguises himself to look like an ordinary American so he can study them “unobserved.” The alien-speaker is able to change his disguise as needed; thus he may blend in among the members of any race with which he wishes to observe and interact. He finds it curious “the imprecise and strangering / distinctions by which they live,” and that “they / justify their cruelties to one another.”
“charming savages enlightened primitives brash”
Still musing about “how / to describe them,” he labels them “charming savages / enlightened primitives / brash / new comers lately sprung up in our galaxy.” Thus the reader understands that the alien’s home-planet is like Earth, a planet in the Milky Way.
He describes the “americans” as seemingly lacking in self-knowledge and claims, “yet no other beings / in the universe make more extravagant claims / for their importance and identity,” a rather stereotypically biased reference to the concept of American Exceptionalism.
He says that the “americans” resemble the alien culture in their creation of “machines that serve and soothe and pamper / and entertain.” He reports having seen the American flag and the footprints of Americans on the moon. He calls “americans” “a wastefully ingenious / people” who have “intricate rubbish.”
He observes that “many it appears worship the Unknowable / Essence the same for them as for us” but also finds that they “are / more faithful to their machine made gods / technologists their shamans.”
“oceans deserts mountains grain fields canyons”
The speaker describes the landscape and mentions the specific location in Colorado called “Garden of the Gods,” which he avers was sacred to the “first indigenes.”
“something they call the american dream sure”
The speaker discusses the concept of “The American dream” with “an earth man / in the tavern.” The earth man opines that the American Dream idea is still alive, and it stipulates that anyone who wants to succeed is able to do so in America. They should at least be able to eke out a living of “three squares a day.”
The earth man figures he does all right. Then the speaker does not quite understand and says, “i / fear one does not clearly follow.” The earth man notices that the alien speaker has a strange accent, asks the alien where he is from, and because the earth man “stared hard” at him, the alien left, noting that from now on, he “must be more careful.” He notes that he should use the term “okay,” as it seems to be a “password.”
“The Counselors would never permit such barbarous”
The speaker notes that his work among the alien Americans has become a strain on his metabolism. He says that “The Counselors would never permit such barbarous / confusion.” He reports obsequiously that “they know what is best for our serenity.” He contrasts his own civilization: “we are an ancient race and have outgrown / illusions cherished here item their vaunted / liberty.”
The alien being demonstrates that his society is based on blind obedience to authority, and he cannot even imagine how Americans with all their freedom have managed “to survive.”
“america as much a problem in metaphysics as”
The speaker finally must admit that he is unable to understand “the americans.” He asserts that America is a “problem in metaphysics,” a claim clearly used as an excuse for his lack of understanding. He notes that it is a nation that “changes even as i / examine it.” He says, “fact and fantasy never twice the / same.” But he “aroused / suspicion” only twice. Each time he returned to his ship, and he and his crew laughed as the “media voices termed us” “humanoids from outer space.”
The speaker finds that he is “curiously drawn” “to / the americans,” but he does not think he “could exist among them for / long.” He gives reasons for this inability, placing all of the blame on the Americans: “psychic demands far too severe / much violence much that repels.” Still, he is “attracted / none the less.” He likes “their variousness their ingenuity / their elan vital.” And there is another quality that he cannot name; he calls it “essence / quiddity.” But he is sure those terms do not quite describe the actual quality that he finds most alluring.
 |
