From May 9, 1978 Journal
On the Staten Island Ferry
The first time
I’ve left Manhattan
Since going to Boston
On Christmas___
11 AM
I can’t see anything of Manhattan
The fog furls over the ferry’s wake
Across the Inner Harbor
The rank smell of the sea
Beyond the Verrazano Bridge.
The gray water darker than the gray air
The world a maze of opaque sameness
The ferry approaches St. George
The passengers disembark
Return to Manhattan on the same ferry
A fog horn sounds the departure
11:30
The wooden dock enveloped by gray
Fifteen seconds later we are lost in it___