Mechanical Dance

microphone monotone announcing the next stop
click-clack of the wheels on the track
and the whirr from the overhead wire.
red and green stop and go
lights
dashing by your eyes on the side.

tunnels rushing by
gazing from the top
of the overpass; city-wide view, breath, sky, wind.

it’s a dance at night.
red and white candy cane traffic barriers
lifting up and down in the robotic, hypnotic
mechanical dance.

the people lead the track leads the train leads the people,
the pattern pre-decided
the step long forgotten
the lilt of the music:
the accent, the downbeat.

seamless transfer of weight on corners
escalator from the
peak of the world, going down to the parking lot.

advertisements screaming
silver seats gleaming
purple blue white outside streaming.

it’s a dance at night.
red and white candy cane traffic barriers
lifting up and down in the robotic, hypnotic
mechanical dance.

graceful, curves into tunnels, onto bridges,
lights flashing signals,
swish of the door open shut.
choreographed and practiced
smooth transitions from waltz to tango
preprogrammed, orderly, calculated.

it sweeps onto the dance floor,
the station,
the brightly lit stage.
7 minutes until the 69th street line’s here,
3 pirouettes to go
2 more basics and a promenade then we’re done.
emotionless, the overworked dancer
who’s done this routine a million times,
tired, executed perfectly
mechanically.

every single movement blueprinted, preordained.
but once you leave the dance’s embrace
the wild uncalculated chance of a million possible destinations
takes hold.

~ Mary Heeg

Mary Heeg is a writer and musician who attends Grade 9 at the Calgary Waldorf School. She’s been writing stories and poems since age eight and has gone to Wordsworth Summer Writing Residency for three years. She is an avid reader, lover of food and cats, and has lived in Calgary her whole life.

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