MARTA

Here I am at the East Lake MARTA station, retracing steps I took last 9 years ago, maybe even 10. From this station to work to school, usually reading, Native Son is the last book I remember finishing on the MARTA.

It's such a drastically different landscape than that of the NYC subway. The trains are free of grafitti. There are t.v. screens you can tune into in 2 languages. Candler Park Station. Inman Park-Reynoldstown.

I am headed to the airport back to New York. On a Sunday at 2 pm the station is empty. Inside, the car is half full. Elevated the whole way until Five Points downtown, you pass the dichotomy of abandoned buildings facing brand new loft apartments. Kudzu and freight cars. The historic cemetery, Grady hospital. What a flashback to the past.