Friday

FRIDAY Metro going home on Friday Hell on wheels Feet like lead and eyelids wilting With weight of week’s work Five interminable days Of doing what the boss says Every face in this train is like mine I prop myself up to the door, close eyes Sway in time with the train Tracks suddenly change direction Every soul staggers - an over- trained Dance troupe well beyond rehearsal phase At each station more worn faces forced Into Faust’s bargain for youth again Two days of rejuvenation, Then the interminable five. Each station, Each man, indistinguishable from the others, As I am to them. At the end of the line, Doors burst open. We trudge to the escalators. Respite - we rise, pity ourselves, Gaze unfocused at the floor, Hunched over the moving rubber rail, Adjusting grip every few seconds. Rest one foot on the next step up, One minute’s pause and eagerly Look up to the surface lght - Almost out of the pit A prayer answered - “de profundis “ We’ve had enough, We want to get home and shed the load, Regenerate, renew contact with Life above the grindstone pits.