Burgos "I Was My Own Route" (10/30/08)

Burgos' poem is struggling with having to let go of what is expected of him. Burgos seems to want to be somebody traditional, but he is being pulled forward into a new world. "The desperate flapping wings of the old guard" is the pull towards what is habitual in the present, but he is taking a different path towards something unfamiliar. Within him I think he is secretly pleased that he is able to take a new route and break with the past. He is taking a route that is solely his own, so the poet's present now is his choosing. It is a clean slate with no history or expected future attached to it. He is like a fresh bulb in unplanted soil that is ready to grow and bloom. It seems he wants to be true to himself and not play "hide and seek" with himself, and accept himself as he is. However, a struggle is evident as although he is on his own route, he goes back on his desire to advance forward and is relieved to receive a homecoming.