My night view from bed is
apartment buildings
Manhattan-sized (!) prisms
with living room lights
that never seem to go dark.

One has glass elevators
profiled in neon
that slide up and down
carrying people
and (likely) their pets.

Sometimes they make stops
not solely at random
(of course they were summoned!)
and sometimes they operate
express.

Lights blink in unison
when they stop at a floor
reminding passengers
they’re finally home.
(Please get off!)

It’s an eternal task
this lifting of people
over and over again.
Is this punishment from Hades
or simply a struggle for meaning?