Life-Like

[michaelboy]

The fingers of one hand were pressed to the rough fake grass as the other slowly brought the bakelite train transformer to full throttle - and everywhere red oil smoke and sparks churned out ozone trainsmell...

Where does this train go? Can it take me far? Can I climb inside the dining car and sit next to the striped-shirt boy and freckle-faced girl? Does the conductor have a pocketwatch? Can I live in Plasticville where store-windows glow yellow at night? Here, ya know - as close as people get to war is the Buy War-Bonds billboard. People don't get sick, really, as the hospital is where folks go only for white linen bandages, tongue depressors and to have babies. Around town, there's no such thing as high-pressure sodium vapor streetlights - only clean glass globes with Edison lights. Wool trousers are usually on sale at the Dry Goods and root-beer floats are sold at the soda-fountain in tapered milkshake glasses while chromed bar-stools spin around and around on oiled wooden floors

* * *

In a modern culture
My friend you must be careful
They've a million ways to kill you
In this dangerous world
There's an art to growing old
Taking chances
Magic happens
~ Breaking up the Girl, Garbage

Comments

[serafaery]

I like these descriptions, they're transportive, little windows of things that were distantly familiar to me as a child of the 70s. :)