the first elevator was installed in new york city,
in march of eighteen-fifty-seven,
it was an otis elevator and it moved upward,
it was sky-bound and they called it progress,

the first escalator was installed as an amusement ride
in eighteen-ninety-seven on coney island,
it was productivity and it was innovation,
it was industry and it was revolutionary,
and they called it progress.

this upward feeling
in this elevator,
they installed this,
this ground-breaking elevation
moving me closer to defiance,
moving me toward that which was always just out of reach,
they installed it, and
they manufactured it and mass-produced it, and
they packaged it and advertised it, and
they sold it and they called it progress.

now that we have the means to get there,
the question is where to go,
because you can't call the journey progress if it only leads to more of the same,

we've been defying gravity for one-hundred-fifty years,
now we are the waiting,
waiting for the almighty mezzanine,
waiting for ascension to a presidential suite with an unprecedented view,
waiting for them to construct a heaven,
we are the waiting
and we wait in joyful hope for a destination worth being elevated to.

07/14/2008

Author's Note: (see also: i had a blanket until i was eight & pedestrian)

Posted on 07/14/2008
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