"Oh No" by Robert Creeley

If you wander far enough
you will come to it
and when you get there
they will give you a place to sit

for yourself only, in a nice chair,
and all your friends will be there
with smiles on their faces
and they will likewise all have places.

~Robert Creeley

Robert Creeley in his poem, “Oh No”, portrays the dangers of being trapped by a society that institutionalizes his citizens.  The people of such a society go out in search of a better life until they end up in a tedious job that they must maintain in order to keep up with the rest of society. As a result, they end up in a nine to five job that they go to five days a week. Eventually they end up living to work rather than working while living. The first two lines, “if you wander far enough / you will come to it” describes an innocent journey into the unknown.  People leave home or their hometown in search of a bigger life or something similar to the American dream. The word “wander” implies that those who come here are lost and don’t intentionally come here or that these people don’t know exactly where they going.  What and where “it” is not explained which makes the place appear very mysterious. I think Creeley does so to suggest that the wanders, like the readers, also don’t know what it is and unknowingly find themselves in it.  However “it” seems like a very nice place at first. They  are given a place to sit which represents the new luxuries that these people are able to afford. The chair is “for yourself only” because you are working for your own benefit, not the benefit of society as a whole. It seems great because “all of your friends will be there” so you feel safe and in communion with them. You guys are all there for the same reason which is comforting. The “smiles on their faces” suggests that they are happy to see you and happy to be there. In what appears to be a Utopian society, everyone is happy and has a place or way they can contribute to society.

However the title of the poem suggests otherwise, that this is not a Utopian society; something is wrong. The phrase “Oh No” implies that there is a sudden realization that there is something wrong. In reality, society has lured these people by promises of money, opportunities, and other luxuries to wander into their chair, or place in society. But this is a society based on the ideal of survival of the fittest and you must fight for the things society has promised.  And though “your friends will be there”, they are not your friends in this context. Just like you, they are fighting for the luxuries that society as promised. Rather than happy smiles, they wear deceitful smiles because though they appear to be your friend, they will be willing to throw you under the bus in order to help themselves in society. Now you all have places. However society has not done you a favor by giving you a place to seat. Your seat is what traps you and now you can’t get up. You have now been trapped in a tedious lifestyle that no longer benefits you, but the society that lured you there.