This poem by Robert Louthan is a metaphor in itself, written in blank verse. It is written in a very conversational rhythm, as if talking to the reader. Most of the words used are common enough to be in the vocabulary of a person with an eighth grade education, so the audience is not just the well educated readers, but also ordinary people. This poem might be published in a men's magazine or even a sports magazine. Of course, like all readers, I bring my own baggage with me, my own experience and understanding.
             There is no rhyme, but the poet uses easily blended sounds. The rhythm is controlled by the line length and line breaks to speed up or slow down as the poet wishes, to call attention to important words: materializing moon, fluttering lids, atrophied. The word "orbit" creates a full stop slowing to "he'll ever own"? There is a pause with the full stop mid-line, followed by the short statement: "Oh, yes." Then the rhythm speeds up again with the next few lines until the word curse supplies another full stop.
             The last part goes more slowly as it forces us to slow after "future", another line break mid-phrase. It then winds down to the last image: levitating blanket.
             In order to pull out the meaning, we have to look at the poet's images and the metaphors. The first image of the tired factory worker hurrying home is not really a metaphor. It's a statement that poetry is for the ordinary people, not just the elite. The poet uses ordinary language with very few obscure words. Those he does use qare necessary for preciseness. So we start out with the statement that poetry is for the average person working a job he does not love. Then the poet asks if this is why. Is it to tell him that big dreams are out of his reach? He uses the metaphor of the descending sun and materializing moon to suggest technological magic is what he sees, until he is reminded that it is real m...