Airport

Endless renovations give it
a fleeting quality, an impermanence
that coincides with its function --

to contain the flow of arrivals
and inevitable farewells,
to be this temporary backdrop
to the passing fancy,
the whim of essential design.

Forever mutable, it moves us
with an efficiency our ancestors
only dreamed of.
Pilgrim man has progressed
this far, steps briefly
chiefly to the right
up moving stairs
through doors and detectors.

Disarmed and ticketed,
the seatings, the greetings
behind him,
he leans into his comfort
and awaits the final call.

-- J. K. Durick