Drowning in the Crowd

As a sort of deviant-slash-migrant, I have needed to learn how to swim through large groups of people fluidly.  I am no stranger to the packed hallways and loaded streets of the cities.  Without a backpack loaded with schoolwork, I can easily weave through the gaps between strangers until I make it to my destination.  Never have I needed this skill in places where people are considerate of others or aware of the world outside of themselves.

In my Psychology 101 class, we discussed the strange phenomenon of the "diffusion of responsibility."  If you've heard of the story of Kitty Genovese, then I don't need to explain.  If you haven't, then a quick internet search will enlighten you with a very dark story.  But the unfortunate truth is that apathy is rampant throughout our cities.  We see something wrong happen, and we don't want to get involved.  "I might get hurt." "It's not my problem." "What could I possibly do?" are some of the many excuses that I've heard people say.  The bottom line is that we dub actions of a few "heroic" when they are things we all should do.  How sad that we must put people on pedestals for doing what is right, what is expected, because none of us have the guts to do it ourselves.

There is a sort of "silence" that Ed Roberson alludes to in his poem "Idyll."  I would argue that the "silence" he speaks about is actually apathy.

"as those closely peopled increase,
certain silences are reached"

 When you walk down the street, how many people do you acknowledge?  How many people do you say hello to?  How many people do you even look at?  We don't say hello because it's weird.  We don't complement people on their clothes, their style, because they might think we're freaks.  And God help the guy who tries to hug someone.

The very fitting irony of the title of the poem itself is that idyll is supposed to describe an extremely happy or picturesque scene.  Walk down the streets Roberson describes.  Do you feel happy?  Does everyone you pass look happy?

"those many dropped-here moments

of lives pooled in the flow, their movement
suddenly one,                smoothed"

 Surely you can agree with me in that, the answer is no.  People seem to be swept away in rogue waves, the tides of rush hour, or in the standalone stream.  We're carried away by the currents that control our lives.  From the mouth, to the brook, we never make it to shore.  Sometimes we lie stagnant for a time, gasping for air in the water around us, shortly before starting off again.

No, "Idyll" is far from idyllic.  It is an outcry of the hundreds killed because someone wouldn't get involved.  The poem depicts the harsh apathy and sheer uncaring, cold waters of large cities.  I can swim these waters, because I've been thrown into them before.

But far too many drown.