I sat drinking bottles of coca-cola
in a diner at 7am, content to just be watching
the trains at the station across the street
black coats exited the silver train
from the platform they ascended the stairs
to downtown like a massive army of ants
like shattered splinters of shrieking shrapnel
they exploded into the avenues and boulevards crisscrossing the city
over rusting bridges and skittering up skyscrapers
of which the tops were lost in the morning fog
that wouldn’t burn off until afternoon
women wearing athletic shoes walking to their jobs
carrying their high heels for office wear
other women clicking down sprawling sidewalks
looking at their reflections in store windows offering ‘once a year” sales every other month
from the diner with its twirly stools
to a polynesian place with wooden bridges over flowing rivers
fake cawing toucans and assorted birds, mai-tais
hawaiian chicken served on a faux bamboo plate with rice
feels like another world inside, far far away from the hustle and bustle of the city
it’s cool and it’s dark and it’s wonderful
then after eating there, a walk down canal street to union station
bus terminal with shabby people outside of it
sitting and sleeping on wooden benches in need of paint
old folks shuffling in and out in worn out shoes
a few young people looking around at the buildings
you can tell it’s their first time in the city, or maybe a city this size
dirty yellow taxis honk their horns, buses pull out for the next destination
wherever that may be
