The sounds
of the train

piped in
through the
PA system.

The whole city
slightly askew

but familiar
in its shadows,

its symmetrical brick,
its dry hot breeze

and its lack
of pedestrians,

save you.

*

The blinking message said:

More alcohol
is needed

to achieve
escape velocity

*

The salutations and styles
erupting on the top
few stairs, 

where service
is mercifully restored
and the world resumes

its tangents and vectors,
terrific possibilities
processed by objects

as small and dark
as the eyes of a starling,
constantly soaking up data

and sending it back to Seattle,
which sells it to Tokyo,
which sells it

to someplace else