Patholodge

Illinois darkness, winter approaches
flicks you in the face
as you step off the evening train,
cars packed tight on the street
and no one can see
the warmth beneath the eyes
hidden under long coats and hats
no pinkish cheeks swaddled by scarves
no color, only dark steel bodies
of rolling machines and it makes me
miss new york all the more
with the lights resuscitating the city
through the long winter, keeps it
beating with amphetamine IV deep
in the core of the beast, all of it
working together all the time
all the time, faster than a thought.