DART As on each evening of the working week, people surge forward, climbing the steps to catch the Dart. The carriages are soon crowded, paper headlines prominently display our latest tragedy; briefcases open in the confined space, their owners lose themselves in the foolscap sheets. Others yawn or doze fitfully, heads lolling sideways as straight seats refuse to give comfort, knees rub against one's facing passenger. Suffocating in an airless carriage, as I reach upwards to open a window, passengers stare at me in silence. -- Mary Guckian, "The Road to Gowel," Swan Press/Dublin 2000