The Elevated by Ed Galing

The Elevated


the trains of new york rumble
through the night

overhead they snake along
curved rails, clattering
their way overhead,
as the train passes old
tenement houses, and people
walking down below
on the streets.

entering tunnels where it
becomes very dark, until it bursts
out into the light once again...

as a young boy my parents lived
close to the EL, and my bedroom window
faced the elevated trains, which
made noise all night long, as they lumbered
overhead, in the dark,

and often I would lie there in my bed
and listen to the rhythmic noise of the
wheels, and it was so strange that even
the noise they made was true to the
beat, making a kind of symphony of the
sounds, hurling the train through
poverty laden east side streets,

while inside the train itself, were many
drunks, gangsters, homeless people,
with no where to go, but just to ride
the rails all day and night,

while I listened to the sounds,
and was glad I didn't have to worry
about tomorrow.