Circling in the swinging rounds
Sleeping in the busy train
Of the London Underground
Missing over and again
Escalators that deliver
Upwards to the rainy street
Interrupted dream will quiver
Falling down under feet
What was real, becomes imagined
More amorphous, less greater
Undeniably nostalgic
Though I will deny it later
I return to where I’m bound
Leaning on the rails it’s me
But you’re nowhere to be found
Though it’s only you I see.
When classes break
we’re on the clock
don’t jam up the hall
don’t stand there and talk
Get out of my way
I have places to go
why the fecking-feck
are people so slow?
I hop down escalators
I fairly run down halls
I get bored in the elevators
I bounce off the walls
I plan ahead
I plot my course
through crowds I thread
it’s almost a sport
Tik tock people
no, not the app
stop acting like sheeple
I need a coffee between classes.
Excuse me,
I don’t mean to whine
but if you’re not at the front of the line
you can run out of time.
Once you can order, there’s no time to play
“Un croque-monsieur et un grand crème, s'il vous plaît”
and it isn’t a moment before you’re on your way.
as I’m sipping my coffee
students full up the line
as I savor my sandwich
some will run out of time
This swarm of students
are supposed to be brilliant
but they’re too cool to hurry
I shrug - c'est la vie
.
.
Songs for this:
Le Breakfast Club de Paris by Gabrielle Chiararo
C'est Si Bon by In-Grid
.
.
breakfast order:
croque-monsieur = a grilled ham & cheese breakfast sandwich
grand creame = a large coffee with heavy cream
plane, bus 'n train
elevators 'n escalators
revelers 'n sale-day crowds
is where we meet
STRANGERS!
looking away,
with no eye-to-eye contact
no nod, wink, grunt of 'Hi's',
never ever recognizing
the sharers of the commons
shoved together
withdrawn incognito.
Here for thee be :
The Ten Commandments of Crowd Etiquette
Thou Shalt Honor Thy and Their Personal Bubbles
Thou Shalt Not Partake in Olfactory Betrayal
Thou Shalt Not Greet Strangers with a Nod, Only with Indifferent Defiance
Thou Shalt Yield Thy Seat only to the Ill, with-Child, Frail, Aged & the Lovely
Thou Shalt Stand Thy Ground, Letting Others Squeeze Pass Reluctantly
Thou Shalt Not Covet Another’s Seat or Space
Thou Shalt Keep Thine Phone Silent at Thine Side, and Do Not Speak
Thou Shalt Bear No Grudges for Shoves, Humphs & Grunts in Tight Spaces
Thou Shalt Honor all Queues, Despite their Length and Thy Lateness
Thou Shalt Yen the Zen of Strangers in Common Humanity
History is history drawn by observation to attract
Up and down motion
The thought of the old Dinosaur Escalators at Macy’s Herald Square
The old fossil’s still work
It gets Macy’s customers from selling floor to selling floor
They still work for sure
I know, I worked at the Macy’s Herald Square Tower for 38 Years on the 13th Floor of the Corporate Executive Office
Those old escalators were established since Macy’s Herald Square was built in brick and mortal
I can assure you I am not a fixture, and wasn’t around when Macy’s Herald Square was put together
Let’s just say I made history working for Macy’s, but I could be considered a Legend
However, I was around during the real MIRACLE ON 34th of the
MACY’S and GIMBEL’S era
The old escalators are still in effect and they have history of their own
No mystery
The old escalators are tour attractions to see in being accompanied in Macy’s Herald Square past and current of old and new.
affable aardvarks amused arbitrators
brash brazen baboons enjoyed escalators
careless careworn camels circled sissy
dark dusky deputies danced until dizzy
eccentric entertaining elephants enthusiastically embrace
faithful fashionable forest foxes follow a feverish face
gloriously gleeful gorillas gallantly grab a griping grouse
happily, hopeful, they can share with hippos, a house
Escalators work either way
Escalations work either way
Escalators put load on other side
Escalations push load on same side
First is for the physicially disbled
Next is for mentally disbled
The Spirit of God is in the wind that glides across the land-
stirring the tall Blue Stem into billowing waves of grass,
that roll toward snow-topped mountains-
defining the distant horizon-
mountains appearing nearly as purple as those
grape flavored ices cast on wooden sticks-
that most children find so appealing.
Majestic birds of prey glide effortless overhead,
riding invisible currents of air-
like escalators in the sky-
adding their plaintive calls to that of the incessant wind.
Below, furry creatures scurry for cover-
reminiscent of soldiers on fields of strife-
desperately fearing overhead activity and sounds.
Wild prairie flowers of all colors and variety
bloom profusely, diffused throughout a tapestry of green-
like colored glass ornaments on a Christmas tree.
Virgin land never touched by plow or defiled with post and wire.
So grand, the Tall Grass Prairie-
once so vast, now nearly forever gone -
replaced with corn, beans, and wheat.
Tis true that a prosperous people must eat-
but can’t what little is left be preserved for posterity,
as a constant reminder that even prosperity has a price?
I told the paper seller outside the train station
of your birth that day
he wasn't interested,
but I knew the truth of it
It had been a hard night for your mother
a storm of pain, of emotions of crying
now it was six in the morning and I left her
drinking tea and nibbling toast
while you lay sleeping in a perspex cube
Things would never be the same
Us three now met on the road and
we would walk together
You looked cross,
but I knew you would one day smile
and the sun did rise behind Archway Station
escalators squeaked and grumbled away
reflected against ceramic tiles
the paper seller would forget
but I would never forget today
We took our grandson for the day
To visit in the city.
Compared to where he lives, it must seem
Noisy, fast and gritty.
He marveled at the bridges,
The tall buildings and the river,
But there was one department
Where I knew that we’d deliver -
For elevators currently
Rank high up on his list
Of things that seem to thrill him.
(Escalators coexist.)
He proudly pushed the buttons,
Counted floors as they zipped by
And in Daddy’s office building
There were 8 that he could try!
A Barnes & Noble stop was great
Not only for a book
But for the escalators
(Up and down) that we all took.
Suburban kids are used to
Lots of room in which to play
But a nana with an elevator
Garners some cachet.
They are high state of art,
renovated or brand new.
In the hallway greets you fountain,
sculpture, statue or the painting.
Escalators, elevators
or the stairs will lead you up.
Decorated walls in wood
and uncounted standing books.
They will quench your every anguish.
They have books in every language –
second or the one for you.
From books learn, grow, improve,
you will also know the truth –
what you can and cannot do.
Inside, deep inside, at your window
Near the dim light and mystic shadow
Twinkle your moistened graceful eyes
Rustling leaves of moonlit memories
Opening the gates of many a garden
Sonnets of sobs and smiles of soul
Prayers fulfilled and prayers frustrated
Escalators toward hints from paradise
Calm cool cucumber slice on my eyes
Tranquil flames fostering faith and felicity
Inside I look and say what a universe
On the blurring border of light and dark
Nitroglycerin moments in a quiet refuge
_____________________________________________________
June 24, 2016
For the contest: Introspection – Acrostic
Sponsored by: John Hamilton
SPRING AT PIONERSKAYA
Frozen in the hum of the escalators’
Descent to the roaring metro,
Across the unwashed glass
Of government windows,
The equinoctal sun pins
My shadow tight
Up against the lengthening day,
And the spring smiles in the crowd
Are as scarce as icebergs in hell.
..............................................................
Note
For all you astronomy nerds, just a reminder that today is the Vernal Equinox.
Pionerskaya is of course a Metro station near my home.
This is not the golden age.
It is the future reeling from
earthquake, hurricanes,
lost innocence, lost generations:
Who will cry?
Their voices are muted
beneath the blare of the trumpet sounders
who cry for justice: human rights,
the environment, save this, save that,
save the world.
They do not see
In the modern world,
after the dark-age, beyond skyscrapers,
escalators and aeroplanes, without concord.
They do not see the muting things
nor hear the muted voices.
In the modern world,
they
do not feel.
This is not the golden age.
It is the future reeling from
earthquake, hurricanes,
lost innocence, lost generations:
Who will cry?
Their voices are muted
beneath the blare of the trumpet sounders
who cry for justice: human rights,
the environment, save this, save that,
save the world.
They do not see
In the modern world,
after the dark-age, beyond skyscrapers,
escalators and aeroplanes, without concord.
They do not see the muting things
nor hear the muted voices.
In the modern world,
they
do not feel.
Because real estate on the Boardwalk was in great demand,
the company had to build on a small section of land.
The casino was fashioned in European multi-level style.
Management believed it had a winner all the while.
The waitresses wore the familiar bunny ears and cotton tails.
The ship was on the sea with the wind billowing the sails.
However, in no time, the ship would run aground.
The public didn’t like escalators and tight places management found.
The competition within the city proved too strong.
What appeared to be all the right moves changed into wrong.
Unsuccessful business operations is what the management got.
Today, the site of the hotel is just a vacant lot.
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