drives the trolley
along the riverfront
past Toulouse and Canal
this stop for the French Quarter
next one for the Café du Monde

greets passengers
from the riverwalk
wistful smile
thirty years
from Jerusalem
City of God
here in the City of Sin

Palestinian driver
faithful lover
peers at the tracks
caresses the controls
rolls graceful
in unison with the trolley
turns toward me
for brief remembrances of time
on the West Bank
of the Jordan
points to the West Bank
of the Mississippi

applies the brakes
helps passengers off
assists newcomers on
along the riverfront
rich earthy face
old-world façade
balconies dense with irises
cathedral nestled in Jackson Square

this trolley
with reversible wooden seats
this man transplanted
screeches with age
plies like Sisyphus condemned
back and forth
back and forth

one trolley
one man stranded in time
here on the riverfront
in the city
where life yawns heedlessly at the sky