High speed trains aren’t meant for looking:
if you try to solve the blur you’ll get a headache.
Masks are popular if you’re feeling infectious
or prophylactically alert.
Sit back and practise mind-control instead,
turning the pages of a cartoon novel.
This one has pictures of lunch boxes emulating
regions and seasons, ingenious snacks
sold on certain days at certain stations.
Don’t try to escape allegory
or over-read the vending machines.
You’ll regret it later, and you’ll miss a lot:
pre-mixed cocktails, blood-type fortunes,
bandaged schoolgirls shitting on Teacher.