The Difference Between Pepsi And Coke

Can’t swim; uses credit cards and pills to combat
intolerable feelings of inadequacy;
Won’t admit his dread of boredom, chief impulse behind
numerous marital infidelities;
Looks fat in jeans, mouths clichés with confidence,
breaks mother’s plates in fights;
Buys when the market is too high, and panics during
the inevitable descent;
Still, Pop can always tell the subtle difference
between Pepsi and Coke,
Has defined the darkness of red at dawn, memorized
the splash of poppies along
Deserted railway tracks, and opposed the war in Vietnam
months before the students,
Years before the politicians and press; give him
a minute with a road map
And he will solve the mystery of bloodshot eyes;
transport him to mountaintop
And watch him calculate the heaviness and height
of the local heavens;
Needs no prompting to give money to his kids; speaks
French fluently, and tourist German;
Sings Schubert in the shower; plays pinball in Paris;
knows the new maid steals, and forgives her.

Analysis, meaning and summary of David Lehman's poem The Difference Between Pepsi And Coke

5 Comments

  1. cassandra says:

    ~♥~
    This poem is really funny….!!!!! I liked it alot!!!!!
    Good job on all the hard work it took to write it……

    ~♥~cassandra~♥~

  2. Aimee says:

    This poem was depressing but good. I wrote a paper on the context of them poem. I found this poem to be a great for reading and would reccomed it to anyone.

  3. jaccel says:

    i was searching a poem 4 my project i like this becoz this was my b-day august 14……terrifying poem okkkkkk

  4. wilda says:

    i was searching for a poem for my x because lloves cocke i thoought i would send this on to him but he still did not like it but i dont understand it

  5. corrissa says:

    I really liked the poem….i’m doing a project on coke and pepsi and thought i might as well read it….it was funny good job!!!

Leave a Reply to wilda Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Do you have any comments, criticism, paraphrasis or analysis of this poem that you feel would assist other visitors in understanding the meaning or the theme of this poem by David Lehman better? If accepted, your analysis will be added to this page of American Poems. Together we can build a wealth of information, but it will take some discipline and determination.