California Cable Car

California Cable Car

A slot in the street conceals

a swift, hidden current, the steel wire

which draws the car eastward;

though it does not change compass bearing

the car turns a corner as it passes

the spires of Grace Cathedral.

A bell rings twice

and then the street drops away

into the thicket of skyscrapers

that shoulder each other apart

Glass and steel and stone that

frame a silver-iron lattice;

towering pylon

suspending cables

above San Francisco Bay.