Que Sera Sera

Que Sera Sera

by A. Van Jordan

In my car, driving through Black Mountain,
North Carolina, I listen to what
sounds like Doris Day shooting
heroin inside Sly Stone’s throat.

One would think that she fights
to get out, but she wants to stay
free in this skin. Fresh,
The Family Stone’s album,

came out in ’73, but I didn’t make sense
of it till ’76, sixth grade for me,
the Bicentennial, I got my first kiss that year,
I beat up the class bully; I was the man.

But for now, in my head, it’s only ’73
and I’m a little boy again, listening
to Sly and his Family covering Doris’s hit,
driving down I-40;

a cop pulls me over to ask why
I’m here, in his town, with my Yankee tags.
I let him ask a series of questions
about what kind of work I do,

what brings me to town—you know
the kind of questions that tell you
this has nothing to do with driving a car.
My hands want to ball into fists.

But, instead, I tell myself to write a letter
to the Chief of Police, to give him something
to laugh at over his morning paper,
as I try to recall the light in Doris Day’s version

of “Que Sera Sera”—without the wail
troubling the notes in the duet
of Sly and Cynthia’s voices.
Hemingway meant to define
courage by the nonchalance you exude
while taking cover within your flesh,
even at the risk of losing
what some would call a melody;
I call it the sound of home.
Like when a song gets so far out
on a solo you almost don’t recognize it,
but then you get back to the hook, you suddenly

recognize the tune and before you know it,
you’re putting your hands together; you’re on your feet—
because you recognize a sound, like a light,
leading you back home to a color:

rust. You must remember
rust—not too red, not too orange—not fire or overnight
change, but a simmering-summer
change in which children play till they tire

and grown folks sit till they grow edgy
or neighborhood dogs bite those not from your neighborhood
and someone with some sense says Down, Boy,
or you hope someone has some sense

who’s outside or who owns the dog and then the sky
turns rust and the streetlights buzz on
and someone’s mother, must be yours, says
You see those streetlights on don’t you,

and then everybody else’s mother comes out and says
the same thing and the sky is rust so you know
you got about ten minutes before she comes back out
and embarrasses you in front of your friends;

ten minutes to get home before you eat and watch
the Flip Wilson Show or Sanford and Son and it’s time for bed.
And it’s rust you need to remember
when the cop asks, What kind of work you do?

It’s rust you need to remember: the smell
of summer rain on the sidewalk
and the patina on wrought-iron railings on your front porch
with rust patches on them, and the smell

of fresh mowed grass and gasoline and sweat
of your childhood as he takes a step back
when you tell him you’re a poet teaching
English down the road at the college,

when he takes a step back—
to assure you, know, that this has nothing to do with race,
but the rust of a community he believes
he keeps safe, and he says Have a Good One,

meaning day as he swaggers back to his car,
and the color of the day and the face behind sunglasses
and the hands on his hips you’ll always remember
come back gunmetal gray

for the rest of this rusty afternoon.
So you roll up the window
and turn the music back on,
and try to remember the rust caught in Sly’s throat—

when the song came out in ’73,
although I didn’t get it till ’76,
sixth grade for me, the Bicentennial;
I got my first kiss that year.

I beat up the class bully.
I was the man.

Summary of Que Sera Sera

• Popularity of “Que Sera Sera”: This poem was written by Van Jordan, one of the famous American poets. Que Sera Sera is a narrative poem about the speaker’s journey and overcoming bullies. The poem speaks about the speaker’s encounter with police while driving through the Black Mountain of North California. It also illustrates how some memories of his past revives him, and the memories play important role in each life.
• “Que Sera Sera” As a Representative of Life: This poem is an expression of Joy. it begins when the speaker is driving through the black mountain and listening to a song. He talks about the song that it came out in 73 but the speaker failed to comprehend its semantic significance until 76. He feels as if he is back in time when he first listened to Doris’s song. Suddenly, the train of his thoughts gets derailed by the knock of an officer who stops to investigate. He asks some usual questions from him that has nothing to do with his current role of driving.
  However, instead of explaining to the cop, the speaker decides to write a letter to the Chief of Police about his presence in the town, which to him, would be a source of laughter for the officer. The cop’s question about his job throws him back into the distant past and makes him recall some joyous moments that still provide him with a reason to laugh. What, however, stays in the minds of the reader is the way he relates his life to the song he listens while traveling.
• Major Themes in “Que Sera Sera”: Memories, fun, and traveling are the major themes of this poem. On the surface level, this simple poem accounts a joyful journey of a person who is driving and listening to his favorite singer. The song makes him relive his past. He recalls he could not understand the lyrics for a long time. The song secured a special place in his life that even today he is enjoying this melody. While on a deeper level, this poem is a perfect example of the technique of stream-of-consciousness; the speaker just narrates what comes to his mind. The song, the questions of the officer, and all the memories that he recollects apparently do not make any sense to the readers, but for him, all these moments are chained together and compose a meaningful part of his life.

Analysis of Literary Devices Used in “Que Sera Sera”

literary devices are very important elements of a literary text. Their use not only brings richness to the text but also makes the readers understand the story. Jordan has also made this poem superb, using figurative language. Here is the analysis of some literary devices used in this poem.

1. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line. For example, the sound of /e/ in “free in this skin. Fresh” and the sound of /a/ in “of “Que Sera Sera”—without the wail”.
2. Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick successions. For example, the sound of /g/ in “of fresh mowed grass and gasoline and sweat” and the sound of /l/ in “because you recognize a sound, like a light”.
3. Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; instead, it continues in the next line. This poem has quite a number for enjambments. For example,

“But, instead, I tell myself to write a letter
to the Chief of Police, to give him something
to laugh at over his morning paper.”

4. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. For example, “I got my first kiss that year”, “and the patina on wrought-iron railings on your front porch” and “ten minutes to get home before you eat and watch.”
5. Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The song symbolizes memories and his childhood.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “Que Sera Sera”

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

1. Free Verse: Free verse is a type of poetry that does not contain patterns of rhyme or meter. This is a free-verse poem with no strict rhyme or meter.
2. Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian poetry. Here, most of the stanzas are quatrain.
3. Repetition: There is a repetition of the verses “I beat up the class bully/I was the man.” which has created a musical quality in the poem.
4. Refrain: The lines that are repeated again at some distance in the poems are called refrain. The verses, “I beat up the class bully/I was the man” is repeated with the same words, it has become a refrain as it has been repeated in the third and last stanzas of the poem.
5. Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are twenty stanzas in this poem and most of them are comprised of four lines.

Quotes to be Used

The lines stated below are useful while talking about the glories of the summer season.

“It’s rust you need to remember: the smell
of summer rain on the sidewalk
and the patina on wrought-iron railings on your front porch
with rust patches on them, and the smell.”