What now?

‘What Now?’ by Gary Soto is a reflective poem that explores the shifting perspectives and priorities as one ages. The speaker begins by reminiscing about the shooting stars of their childhood, symbols of wonder and magic. However, as they grow older, their focus turns to practical concerns and the trivial tragedies of life.

The poem portrays a sense of longing and nostalgia for the innocence of youth while acknowledging the inevitability of change. The final stanza broadens the focus to the universal, where even the moon and gravestones lose their significance. It conveys a message of accepting the passage of time and finding value in the evolving experiences that shape us.

Summary

The poem ‘What Now?’ by Gary Soto explores the speaker’s shift in perspective and priorities as he ages.

The speaker begins by pondering the whereabouts of the shooting stars from his childhood, which represented a sense of wonder and magic. However, as he entered his teenage years and adulthood, his focus shifted to more practical concerns, such as driving and navigating life’s obstacles. The shooting stars no longer held the same allure as he once did.

Despite this shift, the speaker still looks upward at night, but the sights he sees are now different. Instead of shooting stars, he sees planes and the neighbor’s security lights. The moon and gravestones are also present, but they are not counted among the wonders of the night sky. The speaker seems to have lost the sense of awe and wonder they once felt as a child, replaced by a sense of resignation and acceptance of the mundane aspects of life.

The final stanza emphasizes the shift in the speaker’s perspective as he matures and becomes aware of the fleeting nature of life. The speaker no longer finds significance in the moon and gravestones, which could be interpreted as a reflection of his growing realization of his own mortality. However, the speaker’s contemplation of these changes also suggests a sense of acceptance and even gratitude for the experiences that have shaped his perspective over time. The poem can be seen as a commentary on the universal experience of aging and confronting the changing nature of the world.

Through the use of vivid yet straightforward imagery, Gary Soto captures the passage of time and the different ways in which we come to understand the world. The poem offers a poignant meditation on the complexities of the human experience and the ways in which we make sense of our place in the world.

Structure and Form

The poem ‘What Now?’ by Gary Soto is structured in three stanzas of fifteen lines. The poem has no specific rhyme or meter. The lack of a structured rhyme scheme or meter contributes to its conversational tone, eventually lending an air of contemplation to the speaker’s musings.

The poem is divided into two distinct parts. The first few lines focus on the speaker’s childhood and the shooting stars that once captivated his attention. The second half of the poem shifts to the present and describes the more mundane sights that the speaker sees in the night sky now that he has grown older.

The poem is written in the first person, giving the reader a sense of intimacy with the speaker’s thoughts and emotions. The speaker’s thoughts are conveyed in a stream-of-consciousness style, with one idea flowing into the next without strict punctuation or structure. This reflects the speaker’s own wandering thoughts as they contemplate the changing nature of their perspective on life.

The title, ‘What Now?’ suggests a sense of uncertainty and questioning. This uncertainty is reflected in the poem’s lack of a clear structure or form, which mirrors the speaker’s own sense of ambiguity about his place in the world.

Themes

In his poem ‘What Now?’ Gary Soto explores several themes related to the passage of time and the changing nature of perspective.

One theme that emerges is the loss of innocence and wonder that comes with age. The speaker reflects on the shooting stars that once captivated his attention as a child but that he no longer notices as an adult. The shooting stars represent the magic and wonder of childhood, and their absence in the speaker’s adult life speaks to the loss of that innocence and wonder.

Another theme the poem addresses is the passing of time and the inevitability of change. The narrator’s perspective has shifted from looking upward at the sky to looking forward on the road ahead, representing the passage from childhood to adulthood. The shift in perspective highlights the passage of time and the inevitability of change and growth.

The poem also touches on the theme of mortality and the fleeting nature of life. The neighbor’s security light and the moon on the hill represent the more mundane aspects of life that the speaker now notices in the night sky. These images are juxtaposed with the shooting stars of the speaker’s childhood, underscoring the impermanent nature of life and the inevitability of death.

Finally, the poem addresses the theme of acceptance and resignation. The speaker acknowledges that he no longer sees shooting stars and that the wonders of the night sky are no longer as captivating as they once were. The speaker has accepted this change and resigned themselves to the more practical concerns of adult life.

Poetic Techniques and Figurative Language

Gary Soto employs several poetic techniques and figurative language in ‘What Now?’ to convey his message about the changing nature of perspective over time.

• Metaphor: One technique Soto uses is a metaphor. The shooting stars that once captivated the speaker’s attention are a metaphor for the wonder and innocence of childhood. The shift from looking upward to looking forward is also a metaphor for the passage from childhood to adulthood.
• Imagery: Soto also uses imagery to create an authentic sense of place and atmosphere. For example, the “big white moon on the hill” and “lantern on gravestones” create a haunting and eerie image. The neighbor’s security light coming on is another image that represents the mundane concerns of adult life.
• Repetition: Soto uses repetition to emphasize the speaker’s shifting perspective. The repeated use of the word “upward” in the first and second stanzas underscores the speaker’s childhood fascination with the night sky. The use of the phrase “you don’t count” emphasizes the speaker’s resignation to the more practical concerns of adult life.
• Personification: Soto also employs personification to give life to inanimate objects. The security light is given human characteristics when it is described as “coming on.” This personification underscores the idea that the mundane concerns of adult life have replaced the magic and wonder of childhood.
• Anaphora: Finally but not least, Soto uses anaphora to create a sense of rhythm and repetition. The repeated use of the phrase “the shooting stars” emphasizes the importance of this image to the speaker’s childhood perspective.

Detailed Analysis

 Stanza One

Where did the shooting stars go?
They flit across my childhood sky
(…)
All the small tragedies behind me,
The road and the road’s curve up ahead.

In the first stanza of ‘What Now?’ Gary Soto establishes the poem’s central theme: the changing nature of perspective over time. The stanza begins with a rhetorical question, “Where did the shooting stars go?” The use of this rhetorical question is a literary device that draws the readers in and invites them to contemplate the answer. In this case, the question emphasizes the sense of loss that the speaker feels as he reflects on his childhood.

The speaker presents the shooting stars as a symbol of the wonder and innocence of childhood. Soto describes the stars as “flitting” across the sky, a verb that suggests movement and energy. This description contrasts with the more mundane images that follow: the speaker’s face peering through the windshield of his car or into the rearview mirror. The use of these specific images emphasizes the idea that the speaker’s perspective has shifted from looking upward to looking forward and backward.

The phrase “all the small tragedies behind me” is particularly poignant. It suggests that the speaker has experienced pain and loss but that these events are now in the past, and he has left them behind. This phrase also suggests a sense of resignation and acceptance, as if the speaker has come to terms with the minor tragedies of his past.

Finally, the line “the road and the road’s curve up ahead” emphasizes the idea that the narrator’s perspective has shifted to the practical concerns of adult life. The use of personification in “the road’s curve” gives the road a sense of agency and suggests that the speaker is being carried forward by the passage of time.

Stanza Two

The shooting stars?
(…)
The neighbor’s security light coming on.

The second stanza of ‘What Now?’ builds on the central theme established in the first stanza, exploring the idea of the loss of magic and wonder that comes with age. The opening question, “The shooting stars?” reminds the reader of the symbol introduced in the previous stanza.

The second line of the stanza, “At night, I now look upward—” is followed by a pause, indicated by a dash. This pause emphasizes the shift in the speaker’s perspective from the past to the present. The line suggests that the speaker is no longer preoccupied with the practical concerns of adulthood and has returned to the wonder and innocence of childhood. The adverb “now” emphasizes the sense of change and transformation that the speaker has undergone over time.

The following two lines, “Jets and single-prop planes. / No brief light, nothing to wish for,” serve to contrast the present with the past. The use of alliteration in “Jets and single-prop planes” draws attention to the sounds of the night sky, while the line “nothing to wish for” emphasizes the absence of the shooting stars that once provided the speaker with a sense of wonder and magic. The phrase further highlights the sense of loss and nostalgia that the speaker feels.

Finally, the image of “the neighbor’s security light coming on” accentuates the banality of modern life. The narrator’s use of an everyday object, a security light, highlights the contrast between the magic of childhood and the mundane concerns of adulthood.

Stanza Three

Big white moon on the hill,
(…)
You don’t count.

The last stanza of ‘What Now?’ is the shortest yet has a strong emotional impact. It continues to explore the theme of perspective but shifts from the personal to the universal. The first line “Big white moon on the hill,” creates a clear image of a big white moon on a hill, emphasizing its grandeur. The use of the adjective “big” emphasizes the scale of the image, while the preposition “on” creates a sense of connection between the moon and the hill. The second line, “Lantern on gravestones,” introduces a new image of a small lantern on gravestones that creates a sense of sadness and loss.

The final line of the stanza, “You don’t count,” connects these two contrasting images and expresses a sense of bitterness and acceptance. The pronoun “you” dissociates the speaker from the images indicating that they no longer hold the same significance for the speaker. This line suggests that the short-lived nature of life may result in one’s blindness to the importance of once-cherished matters.

In short, the third stanza transposes the center of attention from the speaker’s viewpoint to a broader stance on the impermanent nature of life. The contrast between the grandeur of the moon and the sadness of the gravestones and the final line about their insignificance highlights the inevitability of change over time. It expresses a sense of acceptance of this change as an integral part of the human experience.

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Similar Poetry

Readers who enjoyed Gary Soto’s ‘What Now?’ may also appreciate his following other poems:

• ‘Field Poem‘ – is a short and powerful poem that describes a speaker’s experience at the end of a workday. The poet uses imagery to depict leaving a cotton field and climbing on a bus.
• ‘Oranges‘ – a charming narrative poem, tells a story about a young boy on his first date.