In this poem, the speaker describes his daily commute on a ferry running between Brooklyn and Manhattan. He begins by describing his surroundings: the water below, the clouds, the sunrise, and the commuters around him. Though all of the passengers are following their ordinary daily ritual, the speaker finds them to be "curious" (strange). He thinks about all the people who have made this journey in the past and how many are yet to repeat it long into the future. This thought carries him into a meditation on the connection between the past and the future and how all of the people on this particular ferry fit into the equation.In the third section of the poem, the speaker explores the commonalities between all the commuters who have traveled and will travel on this ferry. No matter the era, travelers on this ferry route will experience the same, timeless view: the round masts, the steamer ships in motion, and the seagulls flying by. The speaker feels as though these shared experiences can unite people across different historical eras. In the fifth section of the poem, he asserts that all humans are connected across time and space.