Bone in the Throat
(March 2021)
By Paul Marion
Web photo courtesy of CNBC
The vast container ship Ever Given from Malaysia,
Bound for the Netherlands, stuck like a bone in the
Throat of the Suez Canal, reminded me of dozens or
A hundred random trailer trucks wedged under the
Spaghettiville railroad bridge near the defunct Prince
Pasta plant outside of downtown Lowell, the years
Of daydreaming, distracted, or plain dumb drivers on
Gorham St. rubbing their scalps when cops arrived
And pulled chins in disbelief, sometimes chuckling
Under their breath at another math whiz who forgot
How tall his rig was and got jammed but good under
The black bridge by Trolley Pizza and the road to the
Funeral home, just past that turn—maybe talk radio was
Yakking or the hypnotic Brahms on 99.1 FM lulled the
Web photo courtesy of MV Magazine
Trucker, plus the light was green-going-to-yellow
A block past the bridge—or it was just too late
Going north, downhill, to slam the brakes, another
Accident because it’s never on purpose, who would
Do that? Explain that to the boss or the spouse
If it’s an independent trucker, but probably not one of
Those—they’d be on their toes in the cab, too much
Riding on it—no, it had to be a fill-in guy who’d never
Driven this route. You’d never crash the bridge if you’d
Been under it, the mess it makes for the office, not as bad
As the canal traffic in Egypt, 300 ships backed up, going
And coming, everything from livestock and toilet paper
To car parts and TVs stopped dead for a week or so
While dredgers worked the edges, and crisis managers
Considered air-lifting cargo to lighten the load in hope
Of refloating the ship, which is as long as the Empire State
Building is tall, said to be visible to the Space Station
Astronauts, the vessel locked in the lane, costing time and
Money, exposing a weak link in global transport, 12 percent
Of which slides through the Suez Canal yearly—in the end,
The Egyptian authorities claimed $1 billion in damages,
A whole other level than an errant truck in Lowell,
Which earns a front-page photo: “Another One Bites the
Bridge,” the funny caption notwithstanding the headache
Wringing civilians’ brains hours after the vehicle is freed
From its position for all the effin’ angry stalled drivers
To see—the City can’t post a large enough flashing sign.
We need a toll—and an off-ramp for the “Too Tall” Joneses.