Review "Coming and Going" by Tony Hoagland

"Coming and Going" by Tony Hoagland was offered by Poets.org's Poem-A-Day on November 25, 2013.  A link to the poem, including the poet's notes, may be found here:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/23767

Tony Hoagland (b. 1953) is a teacher at the University of Houston and Warren Wilson College.  He is the author of several poetry collections and the recipient of numerous poetry awards.  A detailed biography may be found here:

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/112?utm_source=PAD%3A+Coming+and+Going+by+Tony+Hoagland&utm_campaign=poemaday_112513&utm_medium=email

"Coming and Going" is a poem about love, life, and loss.  A somber mood is set at once in the opening line about the speaker's (presumably the poet's) marriage ending.  Metaphorically, the end of the marriage occurs as the speaker goes on a wild goose chase in search of his car in an airport garage--it is only in the end that he remembers that he took a cab to the airport.  The airplanes coming in for a landing are used metaphorically to represent the hidden underbelly of life.  The shrieking of the rubber tires of the landing planes is used metaphorically to represent the death knell of the speaker's marriage.  Finally, the speaker returns to the airport to pick up the luggage or baggage that he will have to carry on his own for the rest of his life.