Leah Simpson

Meeting a Cab Driver in New York

The yellow cab runs on roads ripped open
by earthquakes and never sealed
skyscrapers jut overhead
Nguyen Van B. has lived in New York for 28 years
he’s still not fluent in English
his French is better

Robbed three times at gunpoint,
B. says: “Anything worth losing I’ve already lost,
country, youth, dreams
Back in Saigon my family had two servants
and one chauffeur
now I am the chauffeur of millions of people
In this city you catch a cab by whistling
just wave your hand I’ll run right up to you
like a yellow dog called Taxi…

…don’t worry, no need to tip me,
after all, we’re both Vietnamese.”

-- Phan Nhiên Hạo

Retrieved from: http://intranslation.brooklynrail.org/vietnamese/poems-by-phan-nhien-h%E1%BA%A1o 


Retrieved from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Single_yellow_tulip_in_a_field_of_red_tulips.JPG

The picture of a single yellow tulip surrounded by fields of red tulips signifies the alienation of the taxi driver mentioned in the poem. He stands by himself, facing the multitudes of an unknown country, as many immigrants into the United States do.

Biographical Information

Phan Nhiên Hạo was born in 1967 in Kontum, Vietnam. In 1991, he immigrated to the United States and later attended the University of California, where he achieved a B.A. in American Literature and a Masters in Library Science. He also received a B.A. in Vietnamese Literature when he attended the Teachers College in Saigon, Vietnam. Hao has written two collections of Vietnamese poems: Thiên Đường Chuông Giấy (Paradise of Paper Bells, 1998)  and Chế Tạo Thơ Ca 99-04 (Manufacturing Poetry 99-04, 2004).


Information retrieved from: http://intranslation.brooklynrail.org/vietnamese/poems-by-phan-nhien-h%E1%BA%A1o 

Analysis

• The speaker calls for a taxi and is met by a Vietnamese driver named Nguyen Van B.  Nyugen speaks of his rich family back in Vietnam in contrast to his poor state of living in New York City, where he is beckoned like a dog instead of being the one beckoning others.
• The speaker is most obviously a person of Vietnamese heritage who lives in New York. However, he also likes to observe life from a different point of view as presented by the poem being structured slightly as an interview with only the answers.
• In this poem, figurative language  highly impacts the mood of the poem by distorting the setting and providing great contrast to make a point about human behavior. In the first stanza, the speaker uses personification to describe New York City as "roads ripped open by earthquakes and never sealed," setting up a desolate, abandoned mood that usually would contrast with the hustle and bustle connected with the state but instead highlights lack of contentment or self-care. In the second stanza, the taxi driver describes himself as "a yellow dog named Taxi" who will run up to anyone who waves their hand on the side of the road. Comparing oneself  to a "dog" is degrading and points out a certain unhappy state of mind, altogether adding to the poem's mood of loneliness, discontent, and indifference.
• The form of Meeting a Cab Driver in New York  gives a sense of disunity, or separation from the whole. There is no rhyme scheme whatsoever, and having rhyme scheme usually points towards unity rather than division.
• The speaker presents a tone of regret and reluctant acceptance through repeating the dialogue of the cab driver. The cab driver speaks as if he strongly disproves of his occupation, but then remains polite and kind towards the passenger even though he is unhappy. His masked unhappiness adds to the overall tone of regret and acknowledgement of one's place in life despite the unfavorable circumstances. 
• The theme of Meeting a Cab Driver in New York  is that ethnicity and stereotypes may isolate individuals, but they also bring those who are alike closer together with common traits or experiences.