The overhead rumbling of
streetcars on the West Side Line
has long passed, along with
passengers wearing hats, workmen,
excited children, women with
shopping bags and lovers whispering.
The city has entered an era of new
changes while others fight for what was.
Trees, weeds and scattered flowers
keep company with abandoned tracks
and switch plates. From the Hudson
River the elevation appears like the leg
of a giant, its body now buried below ground.
Graffiti marks nearby walls. Young people
walk in groups. Curved dirt paths cut
through tall grass, evidence of use.
Roger Singer 