more meditations on the subway platform.
i love standing on that platform.
i hate standing for extended periods of time with nothing to do. it wears me out.
but.
i love standing on that platform watching trains come in, go out, go by.
the distant thunder on the rails, the rattling of the carriages, the sheer wall of sound that comes up to shelter you from the locomotive, i love it all. i love to see the train coming in, the cold wind blowing past my face, the waiting for the doors to open. and you're in. and the best way to travel on the subway is to lean on the doors. Why else would so many people do it? there is a fine art to it, a rhythm that takes you over, you step in and you stop. the train moves, and you lean back. the whole thing is done by body memory, you just keep doing whatever it is you usually do on the train, read, listen to your ipod, look around and avoid eye contact...
well, it took me this long to get to the "profound" part of the post. and im not going to use the train as a metaphor for God and how we should lean blah blah blah...those doors that open and close regularly spoil the accuracy of the comparison for me.
no, this is more of a meditation on the nature of my walk through life. prompted by my walk home during the morning rush. i get on the train, and i'm surrounded by people on their way downtown. rushing to work, reading the morning newspaper, thinking of the day ahead. am i the only one going home? it sure looks that way when im taking the stairs down to the platform. but i know that its not true... hidden in the press of people are others like me, all headed for home. the few, who found grace in the journey, and rest at the end.
8 comments:
why avoid eye-contact ?
Maybe, on a truly lousy day, that one glance - a reflection, an acknowledgement or recogonition, is what makes it all worth it and you say, "Yeah, I'll be back tomorrow."
eye contact is too intimate in such close proximity.
u missed my metaphor.
oh well.
yeah havent met-a-phor yet! hope she is fun !
Metaphor .. get it ??
no ? Oh well.
you made it a little too complicated. i must say the second line helped tremendously. :D
metaphor, metawhor... its all good.
i think i'll pass, thank you.
Have you ever walked real slow when a street full of people wizzed past you? Have you ever given way to lots of people getting into a metro to be the last one getting on? Sat in an almost empty metro, stretched your legs, crossed your feet.... hands in your pockets???...hmmm..the pleasure in taking things easy ....intoxicating :-)
oh yeah. lol. i thought i did it all the time. everybody always complained i walked too slow. i love sitting solitary on the subway, lost in thought, carried along oblivious of it all.
Nice guys wanting to finish last. Its a new world.
Nice guys wanting to finish last. Its a new world.
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