girls in Halloween
costumes suffer seats sticking
to their pale, bare thighs.
October 2008
32 posts
a Phillies triumph
means rich celebration and
long trolley delays.
i hold my breath while
passing cemeteries. she
notices and smiles.
stuck underground is
the greatest possible place
for karaoke.
an old woman’s eye
wrinkles curl up, deep. she’s done
a lot of smiling.
a man falls asleep
in the seat next to me. i
squeeze out around him.
severe delays, stuck
underground. SEPTA’s slogan
is: “we’re getting there.”
“hold on to the rail
or you’ll fall,” mom says. kid won’t.
barked now: “i said HOLD!”
“people think just ‘cuz
i’m pregnant i want to hear
about kids,” she whines.
driver shuts his doors
and pulls off. man with a cane
stares in disbelief.
she goes through her bag
for a token, shifting her
lapdog to find one.
at night, the driver
announces routes no one takes,
to fill the silence.
he stares down at his
arthritic hands, trying to
open and close them.
a small girl smiles at
an oncomer who does not
look back. her face falls.
her arm covers a
trash bag of clothes - for shame or
safety, i’m not sure.
Delay!
Hello there, small-but-dedicated cadre of haiku readers,
I’ve had some personal emergencies recently so I’ve been (A) distracted, and (B) taking cabs more often than I’ve been riding public transit. I will back-update soon though!
old friends recognize
each other. there is a long
hug that warms the car.
a little boy holds
a fistful of Halloween
pencils, grinning wide.
so still - you can’t tell
she breathes, except for the tears
rolling down her cheeks.
her hoop earrings are
so big, i picture looping
them around her head.
