Questions on the meaning of some lines in Bukowki's 'Mine' from 'The days run away like wild horses over the hills' (1 Viewer)

She lays like a lump
I can feel the great empty mountain
of her head.
But she is alive. She yawns and
scratches her nose and
pulls up the cover.
Soon I will kiss her goodnight
and we will sleep.
and far away is Scotland
and under the ground the
gophers run.
I hear engines in the night
and through the sky a white
hand whirls:
good night, dear, goodnight.

I understand the first half of the poem but 'and far away is Scotland' is where i start to not understand.

and far away is Scotland/and under the ground the/gophers run.

What is he saying here? Is he glad that scotland is far away from him? What do the gophers represent? What does he try to say by going 'under the ground'?

I hear engines in the night/and through the sky a white/hand whirls:/good night, dear, goodnight.

Yeah i have no idea what is going on with these lines, I really have no clue what he's trying to say here. Any help would be appreciated!
 
Maybe he's not trying to say anything. Maybe he's trying to make you feel something.

"through the sky a white / hand whirls" means whatever happens in your head when you read the words, or when you imagine hands whirling around in the sky.

If you're reading poetry to enjoy it, a little less analyzing and a little more feeling might smooth your path. I understand the desire to lock down the meaning of everything in the world. I think that's what religion is for. But maybe that's not what (all) poetry is for.

What do I know? A lot of people seem to enjoy picking all the meat off the bones and leaving an empty carcass behind.
 
Buk was a no bullshit guy like Hem. Here's a good Hemingway quote:

“Then there is the other secret. There isn't any symbolism. The sea is the sea. The old man is an old man. The boy is a boy and the fish is a fish. The sharks are all sharks no better and no worse. All the symbolism that people say is shit. What goes beyond is what you see beyond when you know.”
 

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