5.13.2008

N train at 11

The doors of the trains all opened on the wrong side today
but the people kept walking out anyway
I tried to stop them, but they wouldn't listen
and one after another fell to their demise
In piles the bodies stacked outside the cars

and the train just moved on

to the next stop where the doors opened on the wrong side of the train
and it was my stop so
I pushed past all the people going the wrong way
to the doors that wouldn't open
and i screamed and clawed and threw myself against them

and the train just moved on

to the end of the line where the doors opened into nothing
and still they got off and i was all alone
with no one and the hiss of the brakes and one woman mopping
passing from car to car just to step off to nowhere
and as the doors closed behind her

the train just moved on

5.02.2008

What if we changed the way we think about food?

I recently made a trip to Sai Organics on 30th Ave, not too far from our apartment. There is a sign above the store that says "health food store", which made me think. Shouldn't food always be about health? Maybe health food is really just food, and the crap that we usually get at the grocery store is simply edible. Crayons are edible, poster paints are edible, so is dirt, but you probably don't want to eat it. So why should I want to eat things that contain wax and high fructose corn syrup and all the preservatives and crap that go into tires and bottles and whatever else? Some "foods" even contain polymers like edible plastics. Maybe we should not even call these things edible, but consumable. If we decide to change the way we think about the things we eat, maybe the things we have available will change too. Wouldn't it be great if you got health food at the grocery store and got regular crap foods at specialty stores for people who feel the need to eat crap?

Why do I have to pay more for what's not in my food? Because people, like myself and others, have for so long simply decided not to eat the healthier foods. But, if we all start eating better foods, the cost will come down and availability will increase. Just think about this stuff the next time you go to the grocery store. When you pick something up, read the label and decide for yourself. Is it food or simply edible? If you don't like the answer, don't eat it. Put it back on the shelf and make a better purchase. You're body may be happy you did.