Traffic Report
 


Someone’s paying people to drive during rush hour, go north on the beltway
then back south, repeat:  natural job-fit for those with cars but not houses,
whose cars are their houses. stirring up road rage (more accidents, more repairs,
higher insurance) and road wear (more well-bellied men leaning on tools and equipment) —
win-win.. will the roads get wider—no, more bicycle lanes.
will the buses get closer to where people live—no, light rail with even fewer stops.

How better to encourage pedestrians than building 4 story condo blocks
right up to the sidewalks edge; adding 70 new residents without parking spaces
encourages lawn parking and work from home. More buildings more mass more gravity
more stuff falling here, more detours, more lost.  we’re all a little heavier, a little slower —
stay home  switching between the food, exercise & travel channels.
Three countries in an hour—I’m starving! I say “Chinese”
the phone knows who to call and what to order.

We’re saving money on lawn maintenance by paving more. Fewer birds less bird shit.
I’m not sure who the squirrels are working for, wiggling into attics and chewing wiring.
not easy to locate the rotting carcass between your walls, to remove the crow
stuck in your chimney Cap those chimneys and let the next residents be surprised.

Every day I’m exhorted to sell my house, fix my roof,
change my insurance, my phone & tv provider.
Employment brokers charge application fees for jobs that aren’t open.
Instead of a new tax make everyone buy a bus pass.
use your food stamp card to buy gasoline.

Airbnb and Uber are merging so you can pick someone up in your car
and charge them to sleep in it.

Dan Raphael

If you have any comments on this poem, Dan Raphael  would be pleased to hear from you.