Speed & Names

I've never heard anyone so psyched
for an express train
but this guy across from me
is hooting and cheering
and when I glance over
he says sorry
and explains
"Usually I've gotta go
through all these stops, you know,
Menlo Park, Metuchen...."
and he means Metropark
but I just say
"No, I know. I do know"
and begin to feel
the excitement, too
as if we live in a country
advanced enough for bullet trains
or as if perhaps
all these little white frame houses
are being projected
on the walls of the Chunnel.
I can barely read the signs,
we are whizzing by so expressly.
Elizabeth already?
I'm impressed.
I'm thinking of the time at lunch
in Chicago with David
who used to teach at Rutgers
and who used to teach me
and taught me
how to use a proper name
in a poem.
I was telling him about
my daily life and mentioned
the commute
and when I said "Rahway"
and "Linden"
he shuddered and begged me
to stop--
he never wanted to hear those names
ever again.

The stops they return
with horrifying regularity

They never change

But some times
3:34 of a Thursday

They disappear