ENTERING NEW YORK CITY
Redeyed afternoon, Sayoko and self jetlag rush along New Jersey turnpike toward adrenaline gawkabout. Full throttle aluminum stagecoach rumbles through industrial Indian country below mugged incinerator skys. Smoke signals rise over plutonium power plants warning Calgarian-Tokyoite arrival in land of free prayer breakfast, home to Frank Sinatra grave-site. Allen Ginsbergs ghost hovers over rustbrown scrapyard; watches bugeyed hick tourists from atop pale green gas tank; follows along in barbwired container heaven: stacked brown, yellow, blue; coffins crammed by W.H.Auden anxiety wafers, loaded Henry Miller nightmare air-conditioners; packed full Gregory Corso Italian canned hams… Whole earth moving, gathering; Everything needed to fill Americas bottomless consumer infinite desire coffee cup. World of illusion rising, falling, joining together, breaking apart. Headed through Exit 16: stop start stop start… Sweaty passengers chat English, Swedish, Dutch, Italian; breathe diesel. Single Japanese girl sits silent, looking out window. Old Glory blows proud before DAFFYS blue lights, neon duckspeak labelling red, white concrete building; Yellow trucks lounge about DAYS INN parking charnel ground, paid up members in 10,000 free choice franchise world. Bus radio crackles Enlightenment babble over motor roar. 1010 WINS New York: You can be smart investor; Smart Money dot com. Schwartz says less pressure now, doesnt have to impress people. Garble barks out intercom: What you were talkin about… one for the World…what time you wanna… Advanced communication connects to external phenomenal world in worlds most advanced technological Samsara. Mind drifts across petroleum river to Big Apple metabolic chaos; How far Harlem John Coltrane jazz swirl; which way MOMA where Frank Harris chewed lunch poems; which way Guggenheim American Century, imperial gas by Pollack, Rockwell, Richard Nixon; where Hart Cranes Brooklyn Bridge, Lorcas Babylon towers, Celines end night journey; find streets J.Edgar Hoover walked arm in arm Roy Cohn, Cardinal Adolph Spellman, mafia meat packers; which way Walt Whitman poetry museum, gallery Carlos Williams landscape, Gary Snyder abstract expression…… Hoboken-Next Right-cirrhosis hometown, Ol Frankie Blue Eyes. Steel bridge bisects William Burroughs nervous breakdown expressway, arteries blocked by leaden multitudes bunged inside emphyzemic greenspace. Black suits enter schizodiabetic right-wing think tanks; wareheads carrying tin foil briefcases loaded world conspiracy blue-print, bullbleep op-ed stink pieces. Radio voice says 12,000 dead Turkey earthquake; Sammy hits 50,51. Bus crawls toward Manhattan knowing Class 4 hurricane approaching Florida; plane catches fire, flips over at Hong Kong Airport. Thoughts are with Turkish community, burbles tough-on-crime Mayor Guilliani. Planets most awesome skyline appears through brown illusion smog. World Trade Center stands tall, shiny hub global discount carpet sale. Empire State, Chrysler, hors doeuvre nerve center world-class market benevolence. Bus caught world-class tangle John Gotti cement truck, Madonna limousine, French Connection chemical tanker, Kesey magic bus. Toyota, Nissan billboards proclaim East-Uncle Sam planetary econo-matrix, warm usury understanding through Ezri Pound gray-blue auto haze. Serious sign warns STOP AHEAD. PAY TOLL. Mouth, Lincoln Tunnel, discrete sign advises, Encourage Mass Transit. Tunnel lights blink outside window in carnival fun house darkness. Dynamo fumes choke eyes, ears, nose and throat. Red lights signal next jam-up, announce next hot sweat stop. More stop start then light appears, end of tunnel. Exit into Neww York! Neww Yoorrk! Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty! Free at Last!New York Tues 08/17/02