Superhuman Existance Poem by Elizabeth Shield

The subway pulsed through the pneumatic tubes
A creature of light, breathing recycled air through ventilators
Rushing like blood from the heartbeats of the condemned
Exciting, exhilarating
Carelessly, daring the sheer speed to end me
I stood at the nose of the train, once again
Conducting the currents of suffocating air
Noisome, they howled like children
But bent beneath my fingertips

What silly people sat back,
In those comfortable compartments
Believing that tube travel was the work of science
That each new burst of speed was machine efficiency
Not my impressive control

It writhed like a snake in the pouring air
So hard to control, barely breathing
I struggled with the enormous pressure
Of guiding it
And another pressure on my soul
Every moment a new decision
To fight or let go
Docking at the next station, or being crushed
Tremendous velocity; my first love

This work, I don't do it for the passengers
I do it for myself
This speed has brought me to new heights:
I move like light itself