late afternoon another day is nearly done a darker grey is breaking through a lighter one a thousand sharpened elbows in the underground that hollow hurried sound of feet on polished floor and in the dollar store the clerk is closing up and counting loonies trying not to say i hate winnipeg the driver checks the mirror seven minutes late crowded riders' restlessness enunciates the guess who suck, the jets were lousy anyway the same mood every day and in the turning lane someone's stalled again he's talking to himself and hears the price of gas repeat his phrase i hate winnipeg up above us all, leaning into sky our golden business boy will watch the north end die and sing 'i love this town' then let his arching wrecking ball proclaim: "i...hate...winnipeg"