Learning the Streets of Buffalo

Cities tied by train tracks
with train whistles
sounding all the same,
hauling the same graffiti,

at dawn I wait to remember

what city I’m in.
At night the weather
is familiar.

Finding the waterfront
and back again,
the General Mills factory
roasting endless Cheerios,

I carry my passport
in case I miss a turn,
cross to Canada
instead.

           

                                         Cheryl Emerson, 7/2014

                                         Buffalo, NY