City of Cantilevers

image from seattlesgreatwheel.com

City of Cantilevers

“I see nothing in space as promising as the view

from a Ferris Wheel.”--E.B. White.

Seattle,

during twilight, purrs

           with soft evening noises;

                         traffic lights suddenly brilliant green,

                         blinking headlights in chrome grills

snapping on,    street lights buzzing just before they bathe

the ground with amber incandescence,

                        Superferries sliding deep through darkening water,

                                            flicking on their deck lights,

                       float planes gliding toward Lake Union, mid-city,

their red-striped white wings & ivory floats

                       bursting with burnt umber. 

Seattle, now a home for the Great Wheel, erected

             two years ago on Pier 57, not far from

             Ivar’s Fish Bar or the Aquarium, 

a new landmark built to entice people to keep coming

to the embattled waterfront,

             during the eight year demolition

                        of the Alaskan Way Viaduct:

which opened joyously in 1953,

allowing teen age hot rodders & commuters alike

the absolute best sunset views

of the cityscape, 

    the waterfront, & Elliott Bay,

    now crumbling from earthquake damage

                            & 60 years of heavy traffic

                            along its double-decked elevated sections,

to be replaced by a 4.5 billion dollar tunnel  burrowing

                            beneath it;

but for over a year now,

the super boring drill, Big Bertha,

has been stopped dead

in the unyielding bedrock,

& they cannot get to her to assess

& repair the damage. 

Then for a few golden moments

               all the western windows downtown

                catch fire, & the shimmering orange icons

                captured coldly on the slick urban faces

of glass, silently lick

                 at the ebony loins of the night. 

      Tauted as      “the largest Ferris Wheel on the West Coast”,        

                       the Great Wheel stands proudly at 200 feet,

                 boasts having 42 8-person gondolas, 

           & for a mere 13 bucks per head, one can enjoy

a 15 minute ride of three complete revolutions,

           fully confident that the 550 tons

           of concrete poured into the foundation

                  will counterbalance the thrill ride safely. 

An emerald city of shadows, perching

                          on seven hills, turns on,

                                          & the glimmering saltwater bay

                                          at its wide feet,

                           becomes a vast mirror, ripely reflecting

the garishly-lit steel & concrete canyons

of its unique skyline. 

Yes, Ferris Wheels in other famous cities

dwarf Seattle’s--the London Eye, not far from the Waterloo Bridge

                             stands at 443 feet,

                             the Star of Nanchang is 520 feet,

                             the Singapore Flyer is 541 feet, &

                             the High Roller in Las Vegas is 550 feet--

but a city that owns the Seahawks

is certainly not ashamed of its Great Wheel, 

& neither am I.                 I ride it four times a year

                                           to celebrate the solstices,

                                           to garnish the seasons;

yet I must add

that those much shorter, with

                  much less fanfare,          Carnival Ferris Wheels,

                                         with their open cars, as

                 the whole structure shakes, creaks, & shimmies, 

still induces my vertigo, 

makes me feel like I have to pee,

                  & stirs my blood. 

Glenn Buttkus

Posted over on dVerse Poets Poetics

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