Chelsea, Massachusetts, Christmas, 1987
The apparition of a salsa band
gleaming in the Liberty Loan
pawnshop window:
Golden trumpet,
silver trombone,
congas, maracas, tambourine,
all with price tags dangling
like the city morgue ticket
on a dead man's toe.
Help me for these questions, thx.
1. consider the smile. what makes it such a surprice in this poem? after thinking about the simile and its relation to the rest of the poem, talk about its effect and what makes it, surprising as it is , appropriate. what does it suggest?
2. the smile at the very end of the poem affects all that comes before. discuss how that final simile affected your perceptions of and feelings about what came prior to it. describe the difference in effect if the simile had come at the start of the poem.
3. disscuss the role of the title and why it is an integral part of the poem.