one

the highways curve into the air here

in the morning coarse air

            with imperfections of dust in it

vii

study the sensibly planted maps as while walking to the primary platform for waiting .. look for the ceiling but see a sky instead, with concrete clouds .. follow the broad painted arrows .. rectangular clouds in a geometric dome forming a half-cylindered tunnel in the underground .. people move quickly up & down the stairwells .. the main floor opens unto a cavern concrete revealing additional layers; platforms, stairs, tracks & trains; the descent into the underground is by way of broad formal stairs, several levels .. tickets are available by the central kiosk which is peopled or by machine ..

vi

we arrive to a platform inside the underground in a sterilized light ..

v

the moving cell is populated by 40 or 50 or more people, as is, the next movable cell & another .. everyone enters & exits with determined reserve; from or to home, work or the market .. the sound of people talking, the brush of bodies moving about, doors opening doors closing, trains slowing down & trains accelerating & the invisible narrator overhead..

one stop for three – one, two, & three – minutes, an animated painting of a tree-lined tidy street; a slum;

iii

we avoid looking directly at our neighbor in front of us or next to us .. we are bodies & thought moving thru space; space bathed by clear light & darkened light alternately .. and as we emerge from the tunnels; further along the green line red line & blue; we see the city dismembered .. half a city block, there, in one glimpse; three people, in another moment, conversing on an ornate balcony, over here, & in different instance; a sharp yellow blot of sun in day, a pale yellow blot of moon in night ..

ii

there is music in the tunnels, a combination of metallic wind, the shrill voice of a narrator overhead; the conversation of all of us, who are waiting .. public art, murals & ads require a short attention span as a multi-car train slides to a halt .. metro riders surge as a force unto the waiting train cars, whilst an equivalent force surges outward .. everyone settles inside & doors closes .. inside everyone settles, closing doors .. the train escalates from white light into the black ..

i

look for the ceiling but see a sky instead, with concrete clouds .. rectangular clouds in a geometric dome forming a half-cylindered tunnel in the underground ..

19

walking in the pearl district; amidst the renewal of lofts & warehouses & the creation of new slender urban parks & the new city regulations; time is everywhere. it is simultaneously morning & afternoon.

17

mount hood with its whiten cone, is an anchor for the city. it can be seen most days, seemingly, floating in the air. long-time residents point to it reliably in the east.