flake
the a train, nyc, 2004
I recall it was evening and heavy - and heavy in the sense that the heart is all we lift - its weight all we carry.
Origin appears a concern in this subway composition: "brine" speaks to that as does rhyme (complements) always and its place in our vitality (speech).
These are war years, and so the question of origin was related to the hypothesized Neanderthalic war and rise of humans.
The last line literally questions the rise of jackets with lots of corporate and product logo patches on them, which address our finding ourselves as working both for our corporate masters as well as consumers. It also echoes the Greek logos.
I don"t know where Narragansett comes from except that: 1., it is a location and so locates, even if sans reason; 2., it echoes "neanderthal" as a four-syllable word beginning (originating) with the letter "n"; 3., Narragansett is in Rhode Island where I started writing the way one result of which is this work; 4., it is the name of an American Indian tribe and so echoes their near extermination by colonists; and 6., "Narragansett" means, literally, "[the people] of/at the small, narrow point," which echoes both belonging and where we find ourselves and so the question of how we belong to where we are.
I once wrote, "History is a word/ men have learned/ to give to their wandering." I would add now the word "verve," traced to "call," or even a calling.
According to some schools of evolutionary theory chance is operative only when a species is in genetic drift as humans may be now.