A Crossing

Night ride across New Jersey. Aren’t they all? But for this one the sun is dressed up for Trick-or-Treat, so it shines. Corridors of commerce. Crowded highways. Aggressive drivers. Stoplights with jug-handle turns. Filigree intricacies of transmission lines. Strip malls planted on former corn fields. Motels, old and new. Shuttered Friendly’s. Haunted pancake houses too. Ramshackle farm stand, hand-painted sign: “Jersey Beefstakes” [sic]. Corporate headquarters, chemical and pharmaceutical. Gated “Windsor Farms”. Worn out diners. Outlet malls. Car dealerships. Inspection stations. Cheap gas, they pump it for you. Finally, a crossing. Just before the bridge, “Riverview Cemetery.” On the other side, a sign proclaims: “New Hope.”