Discarding his memory of A Streetcar Named Desire,
by
by Elia Kazan, starring Marlon Brando, Vivian Leigh,
or maybe not,
he climbed up those three steps,
bid the tram driver a good day,
waited for a plausible answer,
window-shopped all passengers
and entered love.
By sympathetic string
dampers he was jolted about—
an extra thrill as that final station is named,
each track a preview of what lays ahead
up to the next curb, each track
parallel to the next like an option;
destination "Same"—
String dampers were
sympathetic to him—
stop after stop, newcomers coming in,
the air growing warmer,
more humane,
'Open the windows!' someone begged,
fresh air flooded in, all waves of hair—
And string dampers,
invisible, underneath—
