In “One Train May Hide Another”, Kenneth Koch gives us insight on how easy it is to miss something that may be very significant in our lives. Kenneth Koch was inspired by a sign that he saw in a railroad crossing in Kenya and in turn wrote an insightful “list” of situations that we may find ourselves in and reminds us to stop and wait to make sure we didn’t miss anything significant before moving on. Koch begins his poem by relating it to himself by saying “In a poem, one line may hide another line” (1) and shows how important it is to stop and ponder the line you have just read. He compares this importance to “As at a crossing, one train may hide another train.” (2) To Koch, a poem must be read slowly and digested line by line so that you do not miss any of the meaning. In life, Koch shows us that if we do not stop and understand what we have just been through, then we will certainly miss the meaning and possible beauty of where we were. “One dog may conceal another on a lawn, so if you escape the first one you’re not necessarily safe” (16, 17) shows us how we may be in danger if we do not look at the whole situation. “One idea may hide another: Life is simple / Hide Life is incredibly complex, as in the prose of Gertrude Stein one sentence hides another and is another as well.” (26, 27, 28) Life is not simple and is extremely complex and consists of many ideas that need to be thought out one by one. We may skip over one idea and miss something that could change our lives.
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15592
The Gertrude Stein line is particularly important from a literary standpoint. As the New York School of writers are often confusing, Gertrude Stein's writing also offers some challenge.
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