At rush hour, crowds pour 
from three expresses onto the 96th St. platform.
When the local arrives, they press in, thinking only of home.
But I see water, deep in the Catskills, flowing 
from the upper reservoir of the Power Authority at Blenheim-Gilboa
down to the lower reservoir,
turning huge turbines that power the subways
during rush hours.

I see too, a small pump slowly drawing water 
back to the upper reservoir off-peak.
Five summers ago, my family, on vacation,
listened as the Power Authority spokeswoman explained all this.
We were the only ones in the pine-paneled room.
Years later, I think of that small pump
pumping slowly, steadily, every day off-peak
and how motion draws on rest



						Brandywine
						1/9/2000