Scarborough Rapid Transit

Scarborough Rapid Transit (PM XLI)

The elevated train or RT as

it is called down here is

my true eight hour companion

here.

People come and go and

work changes every minute, but

every five minutes or so I can

look up and see the four cars

pass in the distance.

I am too far away to see

a face,

even if I put my glasses on,

but I can see shadows and

I know it has many

people or not.

The trains going east are heading

towards the Town Centre,

shopping malls, government

buildings, passport office,

the GO station is there for

people to continue on an

eastbound direction,

Ajax, Pickering, Whitby, Ottawa.

I like to think the mood on

the eastbound train is lighter

and happier than the west,

people going shopping or on

an adventure, both productive

ways of filling out a day.

The train heading west is something

different, almost

sinister,

and reminds me of the train

Montag rode home in Fahrenheit 451,

the line ends at the subway

station hub,

downtown,

mostly heading to work.

I can imagine the faces of the

people destined for a day of drudgery

cooped up in some small office,

much like myself.

Therefore the train west

always seems to be headed

into a storm cloud while

I keep my optimism

entrenched with the eastbound

hoping the people on that train

have much better luck.

I only ride the train east,

ironically on my way to work,

for the route home I prefer

the shorter walk to the bus,

even though it is slower, smellier

and more uncomfortable than the

train.

Torture seems less intense when it

occurs at the end of the day

instead of ruining the beginning.

MCC