Northward From New Carrollton A Three‐hour Cinerama
We are for these moments ‐ Intimate with a series of streets, homes and towns in a relatively midday quiet All invoking wonder – Are most of the people at work? In between we parallel an interstate roadway… Seeming almost stationary as we race forwards ‐ Competing against cars and trucks – In relative motion ‐ Slightly ahead – Or lagging And the scene changes as we trestle along a large windless bay surface – Conveying as if we were motor‐boating across the water This placida soon gives way ‐ As we tunnel dive under another major city center – Pausing to ingest – or expel other citified vagabonds… Inertia be damned – As the wheels (once again) struggle to turn This transiting bucolic gives way ‐ to the most fascinating landscape (Northern New Jersey) Outside both windows (a small stone’s throw away) we are fringed By old warehouses – Abandoned and perforated ‐ And addended By urban detritus ‐ Trash heaps, balded tires and rusted vehicles Now but remnant souvenirs of some past useful purpose
Then we sense a slow veering to the right Glimpsing some distant hi‐rise clusters An outlying preface to… THE metropolis A Valhalla that never fails – To spark our imagination Then ‐ As light escapes while we descend into a rattling nether darkness ‐ Our speculation gives way to noisy other iron carriages and screeching tracks ‐ All competing for destination – Or departure In our mindset this ‘styxian’ interval – Only seems to subside When our rickety capsule begins to slow – Smooth out …And finally stop (While still exuding grunts and other enteric whooshing sounds) Collecting ourselves we exit our chariot – And jockey our roll‐ons (Trying to avoid conflict with other so‐burdened souls) Onto a dark and narrow ‐ Passenger‐worn platform We are mostly mute – As we are in a hurry Seeking those (roof‐perforating) escape hatches… Upward‐directing us ‐ Via stairs, escalators and elevators (while we plot our immanent dispersals) What a grand cellar ‘Ensplanade’… Unto Penn Station!