I took this photograph of cars sitting in a dealership covered by a blanket of snow. That day I was thinking about the multi billion dollar package given to the U.S. auto industry and the ruinous conditions attached that will ultimately harm the unions and the line workers much more than the executives. Later I pulled a book by
Lawrence Ferlinghetti from my shelf and opened it at random. This is what I read:
One fine day
a proud owner of a brand-new car
started up his infernal combustion engine
and with the first gasp of gas
the whole car gasped
and out the exhaust pipe emerged
a very small scream
as of a very small animal trapped
in the bowels of the motor
The owner heard it and
thought perhaps a cat or rat
was trapped under the car
He put it in gear
and slowly turned out
into the roadway
But the little scream
didn't stop
He looked back through his mirror
and saw nothing at all
He pulled over and got out and
looked under the machine
There was nothing caught or hanging down
The scream had stopped
when he stopped the car
but when he started up again
the scream arose again and it grew louder as he
stepped on the gas
He thought he might outrun it
He thought perhaps if he raced the motor
he could clear it
like a frog in the throat
So he took off down the boulevard
but the faster he went
the louder the scream became
Then he heard all the other cars screaming
and people were hanging out the windows
of all the houses on each side
and holding their ears
looking at all the cars screaming
And as the traffic increased at rush hour
a great roar of animal agony
as if all the animals in the world
were caught in all the machines
of the world
And the roaring grew and grew
And the drivers kept on driving
and driving and driving and...
