Metro Motion

Snippety snap, snippety snap,
this is the way they begin the attack.
Snippety snap, snappety snap,
snippety, snappety, snappety snap.

They catch the moment out in sliding doors,
hum a lullaby that sings their pram
split the second, not the atom here,
quantum leap their bodies on a tram.

Riding the beam, flying the track,
speeding to work like a borg in a pack.
Trickety track, treckety track,
trickety, treckety, trackety track.

The student and the teacher and the nurse
the seller and the buyer and the clerk
rhyme a multiverse of hopes and dreams
sabre shine their light beams in the dark.

Snippety snap, snickety snack,
into the city, a city attack.
Snippety snap, snackety snack,
Snippety, snappety, snackety snack.

Trapped inside the armour of their suits
looping in the vinyl of a track
playing and replaying special songs
that the rhythm of a carriage carries back.

Rock of a pram, shock of a pram
trapped in a tube, in a tube of a tram.
Mush of a tram, crush of a tram
rush of a, mush of a, crush of a tram.

Climbing e-mail mountains every morning
pushing random paper round and round
they grab a snack, snatch coffee, guzzle crisps
then push another heap of paper round.

Snickety snack, snackety snack
no time to sit it’s a sandwich attack.
Snippety snack, snackety snack
working and eating. No time to snack.

As they walk and talk they type in text:
2b or not 2b. Wassup. Wassat.
Punctuate their days with digit speak:
c u 7 (smiley face) on Sat.

Riding the beam, flying the track,
speeding to work and then slip sliding back.
Bleakely back, blankely back,
Bleakely, blinckety, blankely back.

5 o’ clock the metro-gnomes are moving
creeping through their solitude in space.
As dusk spits night, splits light, slowly moving
the metro-gnomes are giving up the race.

Julie Boden

This poem has been performed at various jazz festivals and arts venues with different groups. It was recorded live as a voice and saxophone duet with by Julie and the jazz musician, Dutch Lewis, for BBC Radio 3’s The Verb.