Riding the Green Line (In the Cat’s Eye, 2009) is about the traps we set for ourselves. We are all travelers on this earth but it is easy to get devoured by the beasts among us.

 

The Green Line is the snake that searches us out and then swallows us as we strap ourselves in to our choices.

 

We live within the beast and become a part of it, traveling through life’s stations and wondering each year how we got older.

 

It is the place where we hide, wrapped in protective coverings, and look inward in the reflections from its windows to see ourselves gradually disappear.

 

Glenn K. Currie

 

Riding the Green Line

 

The Green Line rattled,

 A snake winding through the jungle.

Riders lurched, trapped

In the belly of the beast.

 

Dry sparks filled the air,

Arcing through the darkness.

Saliva spit

From the serpents mouth.

 

Travelers, strapped to knapsacks,

Or wrapped in newspapers,

Huddled within themselves,

Listening to metallic screams.

 

Grit-filled eyes of the beast

Winked at caution lights

And stained station signs

Pinned to cavern walls.

 

It stopped to search for victims,

Then dove back into its cave,

A black hole turning light inward,

A mirror for the souls.

 

Riders stared at themselves

In the yellow glow,

Slowly disappearing,

Devoured by the Green Line.