When we were younger,
And our mother used to take us
To a three-story department store
In Clarendon, she knew that she could
Leave me at the escalators while
She shopped and my brother
Stayed with her. I loved riding
Those moving staircases and would ride
Up to the top floor and back
Down again over and over again.
I suppose it was the motion
Or the freedom of being left to
Entertain myself or riding
The wooden treads (the lower flights
Were metal) that went to
The top floor and imagining
That as I rose, I was going back in time.
Or this: when I went down
The escalator at the Woodley Park/
Zoo station of the Metro years ago,
I could not see the bottom and I thought
As I came down
I would meet my younger self
Coming
Up.
Dan Verner
April 27, 2017
Biscuit City 