TICKETED PASSENGERS ONLY beyond this point. Whole families turn out to greet or bid farewell. Lovers fly into each other's arms, luggage forgotten in the joy of reunion. Tender partings under the bored eyes of the guardian of the gate. Singles looking for nobody, no eyes searching in anticipation. Bustlings to and fro, carousels whirling empty surrounded by the hopeful weary. Tramways, busses, taxis, escalators elevators parking structures; this is a place designed to move people from one place to another. All around them, filling the spaces, standing and serving, are those who never fly away, and never arrive.
June 5, 1994
The title refers to the composition Music for Airports (1978), by Brian Eno (1948 - ).
Who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best: his state
Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed,
And post o'er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait. - John Milton (1608 - 1674), On His Blindness (1652)
3/17/99
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