ONE REASON I MISS THE COMMUTE IS THE RSTREETCAR RIDE: My poem published by Page & Spine (USA Literary Journal)
Cesar Jr. Polvorosa
Professor at Algoma University, Writer - business, economics and literary
Leaving Dundas
by Cesar Polvorosa, Jr.
Northbound, I boarded the Yonge subway at Dundas
and entered realms of darkness and sunlight.
Beyond Bloor the train slowed and screeched to a stop.
I sighed and looked outside mindful of the bus schedules.
A clump of trees with a weather- beaten red brick house
lie half hidden among the lengthening shadows.
The failing light seeped through the canopy of leaves
and trickled to the grassy ground.
There among the roots, a gray squirrel foraged for nuts
squatted and stared at the train coach in befuddlement.
I felt its black pinpoint eyes pierced my being
and dissected the strangeness of a human
that sat in the belly of the silver serpent.
Its bearing betrayed its rattled nerves
an instinct that augured species survival.
I squinted at the rays of the descending sun
and espied the firmament through the prism
of foliage and window frame.
The stars are not revealed while the sun reigned over the sky.
The gathering dusk was a promise that the pathways
of the Milky Way galaxy can soon be discerned.
The train groaned, shuddered and came back to life.
The startled squirrel, transfixed at the flashing signal lights
darted and disappeared into the undergrowth
driven to hunt for nuts.
To my destination I must proceed.
I gazed at the lay of the land through the haze
but what fate awaited me at journey’s end?
The train traversed once more its metal tracks.
For a moment, the light gleamed from steel, glass
and graffiti stained concrete walls.
Then the train hurtled into the tunnel and emerged
into the beckoning lights of Finch station.
It was my final stop.
Creative | Visionary| Transforming Business Ecosystems and Communities through Risk Reduction | Strategy Design and Execution | Relationship and Programme Management | Monitoring and Evaluation
3 年What an interesting journey providing a reasonable peek at the likely 'nature's treat' of an experience that can be provided on the evening sub-way journey from Dundas to Finch (especially if you are seated). Thanks for sharing professor. I enjoyed the read and really felt for the squirrel who must now co-habit with the movement and sounds of industrialized cities. We are in their space, Not them in ours-if we should be truthful but I am consoled at the fact that there can still be mutually supportive co-existence- that they have become synanthropic over time. I believe the squirrel enjoyed his stare as much as you did. ?? I watch them and sometimes think they are afraid of us humans, but other times I think they are just having fun and actually enjoy being around us. I am grateful for that.