she grabs her friend’s arm
to get her attention. the
girl visibly jumps.
August 2008
31 posts
she plays solitaire
on her iPod. he watches,
rapt, even awestruck.
a tiny child wails
at Dad until he lets him
walk over to Mom.
a sad-looking young
woman gazes pointedly
at her wedding ring.
“you have nice skin,” he
says, staring. some compliments
are just not OK.
i watch him chase her
onto the trolley, giggling.
she looks back with love.
twin sisters bounce and
chant, “it’s our birthday, make some
noise!” laughing loudly.
bleary-eyed, his head
lolls on his neck, and he tries
to hold his coffee.
after giving her
token, she says, “i paid you!”
you want a cookie?
my sense of smell has
gotten sharp; this dude smells of
sweat and velveeta.
a man dressed all in
white takes great care not to touch
anything by hand.
despite a splotchy
skin rash, she works the aisle like
it was a runway.
it’s fun to watch one
stranger avoid another;
see they were once friends.
she wiggles her butt
and cranes her neck to look at
it in the window.
a woman wakes from
a nap, reaches out, steadies
a falling stranger.
the lady next to
me raises her arm, showing
her armpit, three times.
“i want to go to
chuck e. cheese,” the girl says. mom’s
quiet. she adds, “NOW.”
at the stop, she throws
her burning cigarette next
to a pile of leaves.
“it’s a man’s world,” a
man says, swaying back and forth.
all the women glare.
the crowd drones until
the train comes above ground, and
she screams at her phone.
