The 1 train at 168th street

There is a subway stop here in the city that closely resembles the caverns of hell. You enter it from an elevator, it's deep underground. Just as you're off the elevator the hot dead air hits you and sucks you into it's strange quiet. This station seems to absorb all the echo out of noise, every sound is flat and ominous.

Yesterday being a holiday the schedules ran at a lazy stroll which is shit when you're waiting at this particular stop. A trip that usually takes me a half hour took me an hour and 15.

Even the cockroach I was harassing could hardly bother to make an effort to run from my flip flop. Really, there is no oxygen in the air. The only circulation that occurs is when the trains pass through forcing other stations air into it.

For the 14th time, I leaned over the edge looking for a downtown train. What I saw was the backs of 20 other heads, doing the same. Finally. Lights approaching. Train pulls in, oh good it looks fairly empty, I'll get a seat.

Evil conductor blares the horn and roars by. The din of protest by the lot of us was close to mob behavior. We're standing around in our best summer 4th of July gear bathed in sweat and the fucker blows by.

Another 10 minutes and an uptown train pulls in on the other platform. Usually this is good, the train's brought more fresh, stale air from further down. But this train decided it needs to sit in the station. Motors running, kicking off 250 degree heat, filling our cavern of hell with more fire. It sat for 10 minutes pumping us with it's hot noise, sucking all the oxygen with it.

I was withering and my cockroach had disappeared, he'd found a way out.

There were close to 50-60 people on the platform by now and considering our predicament our patient behavior made me proud. And of course a train did come and only some of us got a seat but all of us got the fuck out of the cavern of hell and that my friend, was a great joy.