Vacation by Rita Dove

I love the hour before takeoff,
that stretch of no time, no home
but the gray vinyl seats linked like
unfolding paper dolls. Soon we shall
be summoned to the gate, soon enough
there’ll be the clumsy procedure of row numbers
and perforated stubs—but for now
I can look at these ragtag nuclear families
with their cooing and bickering
or the heeled bachelorette trying
to ignore a baby’s wail and the baby’s
exhausted mother waiting to be called up early
while the athlete, one monstrous hand
asleep on his duffel bag, listens,
perched like a seal trained for the plunge.
Even the lone executive
who has wandered this far into summer
with his lasered itinerary, briefcase
knocking his knees—even he
has worked for the pleasure of bearing
no more than a scrap of himself
into this hall. He’ll dine out, she’ll sleep late,
they’ll let the sun burn them happy all morning
—a little hope, a little whimsy
before the loudspeaker blurts
and we leap up to become
Flight 828, now boarding at Gate 17.

I like this poem for its lack of grandure. What I mean by that is that there are many poets that focus on complex ideas, important events, overdramatic emotion, etc., and yet Dove often captures the simple, everyday moments that are often forgotten. Here, her poem is titled, "Vacation", and yet she describes the planeride. It is these little moments - the man knocking his knees, the baby's wail and the exhausted mother  that always seem to disapear into life and history, never remembered or awknowledged.
Devices:
Caesura  - "perforated stubs—but for now", "knocking his knees—even he": Dove seems to use the caesura as a way of adding in her thoughts, allowing the reader to see the planeride through her eyes.
Enjambment - lines 4-7, lines 8-15, lines 16-21 ...
Simile - "linked like unfolding paper dolls" (3-4), "perched like a seal trained for the plunge" (15)