(Click here for text of Neufeldt's poem.)

Leonard Neufeldt's book Car Failure North of Nîmes contains many stirring poems, but for me, “The Immortal” stands out as one of unique merit. Its topic, though not uncommon in the breath of Neufeldt’s work, stands alone amongst his earlier publications, especially the other poems in Car Failure.

“The Immortal” tells the tale of a lovelorn individual (one assumes this person is female as the persona describes her lover as a male) who waits for any word from her beloved. When word finally reaches her from her lover, she is disappointed to find that they are no longer as in love as they had been. His refusal to rescue her brings to mind how different they are, how different they always have been. She realizes that he is still immature and hasn’t lived life to the fullness that she has. This difference in their individual experiences pulls them apart, and the woman begins to contemplate her life. She watches the rain fall, perhaps a metaphor for the pain she is feeling at this loss. She thinks on these things before sleeping, and in the morning begins writing lists of what she wants to remember and to forget, then leaves the city. She imagines a graveyard and sad mourners, and joins them while weeping. The poem ends with the chilling line “Mindful of the immortal / You see omens everywhere” (38).

What is intriguing about this poem is its seemingly ambiguous nature. Even after multiple readings, it is hard to pull together all the Neufeldt is trying to say. The metaphors that Neufeldt uses throughout are clearly intentional and yet encrypted. In the first stanza, he speaks of the woman’s “loses … Whiter than bones, still to come” (lines 1-2), which gives the piece an eerie feel. Comparing these loses to a dark and morbid thing such as white bones sets the mood in this first stanza so that the reader realizes where the poem is headed. This dark imagery continues throughout, implying that perhaps this immortal is something more evil than we can imagine. The comparison of  “light [shattering] like glass” (line 15) continues this image with a vision of headlights, or perhaps streetlights reflecting in pools of water in the rain, the light disturbed by the water drops rippling its surface. This image is especially effective, for it very vividly describes this phenomenon in very simplified terms. The use of the moon is very interesting, as the moon has been traditionally considered as a dark omen. The full moon is associated with dark creatures, as is the blood moon and the new moon. This being said, it is easy to notice the gothic undertones of this piece through the “building a night sadness around the moon” (line 16). This image is continued in “But it elbows aside a cloud’s shivered aureole, / And it’s time for you to change” (line 18). The change associated with the moon, though it could relate to something dark and nocturnal, rather symbolizes the woman moving on after the disappointing letter from her lover.

The next few stanzas of the poem break with the dark theme. The dawn comes, coffee is ground and lists are written. The lists are perhaps one of the most difficult metaphors within this poem to understand. After the previous section, it is very clear that there has been a “falling out” of sorts between the lover and the woman the persona is addressing. This portion of the poem, however, is very much left up to individual interpretation. The woman is making lists – one for everything she wishes to forget and one for everything she wants to remember. Perhaps this is due to what happened in the letter from her lover. As reader, we don’t get to know what this letter says, but we can glean from the descriptions of his immaturity that it was not a very loving letter. If this is indeed the case, then the list of things to forget could have arisen from this love lost. The list of things to remember, “stairs a child never climbed / To rooms that may still be unfinished” (lines 21-22), is a continuation of this ruined relationship. The comparison of this list to rooms that may have not been finished is unique. It implies that the desires of what she wants to keep in her mind are not entirely thought out. This idea is easy to relate to, because everyone has experienced a time when they wanted to rationalize something they didn’t understand.

When this section of the poem passes, we are left again to ponder the dark imagery of this gothic piece. We are given the image of “watery flesh” (line 26) which in and of itself is rather disturbing. We continue with the speaker visualizing an “exceptional grave mound, and dry-eyed mourners / By the thousands” (lines 29-30). This image seems a bit out of place, though when one connects it to a later phrase, “If only what you lose didn’t return the same” (line 33), one can see that could relate to her lover. We established previously that she had lost her lover due to their ill correspondence, and now she has finally come to terms with this loss.  The grave mound, therefore, can symbolize the loss of this partner, and her tears the sorrow she has finally accepted. The fear of returning to the city, accompanied by the fear of the “letters you must write” only further exemplifies her distress at the loss of her lover. The conclusion, “Mindful of the immortal / You see omens everywhere” (lines 37-38) seems a bit awkward. Who the immortal is can be left up to individual interpretation. Perhaps it is God. Throughout all of the happenings of the speakerr's life, she can still see God. The omens, or signs, therefore, can be both good and bad.

This poem is an amazing piece. It moves swiftly from the images of a dark, empty, seemingly hopeless life to images of someone moving on and coming to terms with what her purpose is. Perhaps it is for this reason that “The Immortal” is so striking when placed against the other works of Car Failure.