March 12, 2024:

Outside, but still in.

Prison ink, prison stare, locked-down assertions of dominance on repeat. "You're my bitch. You wanna start something? Then start something, bitch."

Trauma acted out amid uncomfortable Green Line crowd, while his teenage son stares mutely at his own shoes.

March 11, 2024:

Elderly in camo fishing cap, head down, asleep on his own arms.

Young mother speaking Somali, black as burnt paper, small children pounding seats with toy plastic hammers, exactly as they should.

White father with white daughter hurries past us all. "Let's go sit in the back," he says, hurrying.

March 10, 2024:

The ride through Trolley Square is pure Disney. All it needs is animatronics to complete the homage.

Gillespie Field is like a scale model of an airport, where corporate Lear Jets stand in for 737s.

It only becomes really real near Arnele. Backs of warehouses, light industry, tags and tags on every surface. The "how things work" flip side of marketing manicure. The America most Americans choose not to see.