The Sacred.part1

The poem "The Sacred" by Stephen Dunn talks about how a student's sacred place is his car, where he can be alone with his chosen music and escape the need to speak or answer. The poem highlights the significance of the car as a sanctuary and the freedom it provides. This poem is part of Stephen Dunn's collection Between Angels, published by W.W. Norton and Company. Here's a poem for today by Stephen Dunn, entitled The Sacred. After the teacher asked if anyone had a sacred place, and the students fidgeted and shrank in their chairs, the most serious of them all said it was his car, being in it alone, his tape deck playing, things he'd chosen, and others knew the truth had been spoken and began speaking about their rooms, their hiding places, but the car kept coming up, the car in motion, music filling it, and sometimes one other person who understood the bright altar of the dashboard, and how far away a car could take him from the need to speak or to answer, the key in having a key, and putting it in and going. The Sacred, a poem by Stephen Dunn from his collection Between Angels, published by W.W. Norton and Company, and used by permission here on the Writer's Almanac, supported by the Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry Magazine. You can find thousands of poems, videos, and podcasts in their online poetry archive at poetryfoundation.org. Produced by Ella Chovanek, and engineered by Noah Smith. Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.