it's just a little blue car
and it gets me to where
i want to go
and today
for some very odd reason
i'm going deep
into the belly
of the beast
it's not like i didn't see
the signs on the way
warning me
of its massiveness
of all the wonderfully
decadent
and tasty things
that it had to offer
must have been
what lured me in
the big glowing letters
the promises of something
that only
the CITY can offer

and here i am
a simple corn-fed boy
driving right into it
i see it now
ahead of me on the road
it starts as just
a speck of darkness
nothing to strike fear there
then, as i get closer
i notice that it starts
to grow arms
no...tentacles
on either side and all
around
high above and well below
grabbing ahold of my little car
and its simple blueness
and lifting it straight
in the air
and it twirls me around
past the many many mighty
black towers
all alit
in reds golds blues
and letters
so very many letters
all trying to tell
me something new
something picked
from the vast array
of anythings
that a small town boy
has no way to comprehend

i can't help but feel the chill
as they've gathered all around me now
chanting laughing
filling the air
with the sheer immenseness
of urban play
i find an exit
and slide on in
to the heartbeat
with all those buildings so very bright and high
way way above
you almost forget the sky
my car pulls into
one such tower
slowly and so unsure
and there's this little
pale white man
with a pale white scowl
who gives me a ticket
and mutters
from behind the glow
of his cigarrette
"have a nice stay!"

and i get out of my car
on the umpteenth floor
and i ride a silver elevator
full of grumbling coughing people
down to the ground
and i emerge
onto a sidewalk
crawling with so very many
many people...
all sorts of people
men in nice Armani suits
men in shabby clothes
nuns, bag ladies
hoodlums, children
they all pass me by
with such a briskness
it makes me a little dizzy
and i have to grab hold of myself
because it's the only thing
that i really know here
and these people...
they aren't afraid to touch you
to swear at you
to beg you for money
or to remind you
of the dangers
of eating veal
of not knowing Jesus
of the ozone layer
and they're all around!
and i hold my breath and run
to the door of my hotel
and swing on inside

and i see a huge golden lobby
with people racing everywhere
their suitcases rolling right behind them
and chatter so much chatter
how many things do people
need to say?
and i find the desk
and i get my card
from a man with a big nose
who's obviously looking down
upon me
and begrudgingly
welcoming me into
to his little oasis
from the monster beyond the doors

and I run to the elevator
and i go on up
into a large red room
with a big white bed
and a huge window
opening up to a
panoramic view of the beast
in all her glory
and i catch a glimpse of the sky
dark now with helicopters
and airplanes everywhere
lighting the night
keeping the city awake
and i fall back
a little man onto a big bed
and i try to regain
as much of myself as i can
in the heart of the monster