Ferlingetti also utilises colour to reflect on the specific scene of action all held on the changing of a traffic light: ‘yellow truck’, ‘red plastic blazers’ perhaps suggesting that the bin men’s lives have stopped-there is no chance of a better future, no further destination for them.
In stark comparison Kolatkar’s old woman is not surrounded by any colour, all is drab, the scene is set in parched ‘wretched hills’. Arun Kolatkur scene setting is more subtle and instead makes reference to a ‘horseshoe shrine’ and ‘fifty paise coin’ to be interpreted as being set in an Asian country.
Though structured differently, in both poems even the layout effectively intensifies the message of the poets. Arun Kolatkur utilises a rather organised three line stanza throughout with a few half rhyming couplets and full rhyming couplets to give variety and to convey a situation with two people varying in culture. In contrast to the organised layout of Arun Kolatkur’s poem, Ferlinghetti’s poem lacks appropriate punctuation, this along with the abnormal phrase positioning forces you to think about the various ideas in the poem and help towards your understanding.
Initially in the two poems the impression is given that the wealthy are superior to the poor; the garbagemen and the old woman are de-humanised by both poets: neither are given names and both are described with similes. Kolatkur appears to despise the ‘old woman’ who ‘hobbles along’ and ‘clings on’ like an irritating ‘burr’, whilst Ferlinghetti refers to the bin men in the derogatory context of ‘scavengers’ a form of de-humanisation, suggesting that the bin men are not as good as ‘ordinary people’. He also depicts the garbagemen as shabby and poor: ‘grungy’, ‘hunchback’ their ‘red plastic blazers’ exposing a cheapness and lack of concern for their appearance in contrast to the ‘casually coifed’ woman and ‘hip’ man. Also there is no visual or verbal contact to make the poem impersonal.
However in Kolatkars poem his initial observations undergo a complete about-turn in verse six – the epicentre of the poem when the irritating, hobbling tugging woman speaks; ‘What else can an old woman do on hills as wretched as these?’ now ‘you look through the bullet holes she has for eyes’, we are invited into the windows of her soul and discover the impossibility of her situation. It is evident that Kolatkur having been almost forced to look through her ‘bullet-hole’ eyes’ is touched by the ‘old woman’. He then makes reference to the emptiness in her life: ‘bullet holes she has for eyes’ also possibly foretelling her inevitable future of dying alone. Considering her now – ‘the cracks that begin round her eyes spread beyond her skin’ her complete destitution , spreading throughout, engaging with the very landscape..’the hills crack, ‘the temples crack’ and all of your previous guards drop ‘with a plate glass clatter’ the poets previous conceptions ‘crack’ and ‘fall’ around him, we are left in awe of this ‘shatter-proof crone’ who still stands proudly amongst the wretched hills refusing to succumb. Making reference also to ‘temples cracking’, religion cannot even save her.
As the poems develop, both poets invite you into their confidence by stereotyping the poor: ‘you know how old women are’ in Kolatkur’s poem and more subtly the joke-like opening, for optimum effect in the ending you can’t see coming. Similarly Ferlinghetti uses linguistic devises but to portray the easygoing lifestyle the rich have adopted through the couple in the mercedes; ‘cool couple’, ‘casually coifed’. The alliteration accentuating their easy lifestyle and along with an ampisand convey, successfully create a casual undertone in contrast to the ‘grungy’ garbagemen gradually building up to the poets final message of slander to this ‘democracy’.
Ferlinghetti compares the garbagemen’s emotionless faces to someone watching an ‘odourless TV ad’ also perhaps making reference to their hopes and dreams of maybe one day being in a similar Mercedes as ‘gazing down’ does suggest an admiration of the couple in the flashy car and after seeing the huge difference between the two and the inequality of the men wishing for such a life style causes him to challenge ‘democracy’.
Towards the end of both poems the poets reach their conclusions both are drawn to a close with their feelings of inequality, Ferlinghetti closes his poem with irony; American democracy ‘in which everything is always possible’ and then in the following verse states ‘as if anything at all were possible’ leaves us questioning the reality of opportunity – does one ever get to ‘cross the line’? Arun Kolatkur’s poem on the other hand is intensely personal he concludes that this ‘old woman’ managed to achieve a moral victory and all he is left to consider his humiliation in the face of a humanitarian struggle and the fact that his very being was ‘reduced to so much small change in her hand’.
Both poets conclude with their intentions of the poem. Ferlinghetti remarks sarcastically at the inequality of democracy which supposedly puts countries like America above the third world countries whilst Arun Kolatkur leaves us with a message about humility and humanity, it is not for the wealthy to assume a moral high ground.