I Haven't Been Here Before (Part I)

There seem to be infinite worlds in this metropolis. I continue to find myself on the way from here to there and stop and realize "This place is new to me. I have lived in this city for over two years and not once in that time have I ever been here before."

This is another tale of the undiscoverd wonders of out vast urban landscape.

It is raining and I am at the mall downtown. I have a rehearsal in an hour several blocks away. I opt for the underground system to get to where I need to be. There is a complex set of halls underground in the downtown core where I live which will help me get to where I'm going while avoiding getting wet from the rain. Off I go....

The underground system reveals an unknown world to me. Stylish, yet unnaturally lit halls lined with marble and granite. It is impeccably clean and almost sterile. Time does not seem to pass under the skyscraping towers: You can not see the light of day here. Men in suits pass on their way out of their offices heading home to work. (I am attracted to men in suits. I am glad I have found this corner the urban landscape.) This world is much different than my dillapitated apartment in the artist-student community in which I live.

I have lost all sense of direction. I must use the map to guide me from the lower levels of one giant tower to another. The colours of granite change from gleaming white to rich red to sparkling silver-flecked gray. This is a place of money and wealth. Even the floors are expensive. I look left and then right trying to figure which route to follow. The paths seem to go on forever. This is a place of bigger, longer, faster, harder. It is a place of excess. The shops and food vendors are closing their doors even though it is only shortly after five. This is a place where making money is the main concern.

This is a new world to me. It has it's attractions (men in suits) and I can sense it has it's flaws (the pursuit of wealth?).

But best of all, I haven't been here before.