Nobody
– i’m going to throw myself in front of the train
paces platform far end erratic loops
muttering
you hear his vow first. and
– (mutter)
– nobody will help me out
– (stationmaster robot speaks) attention passengers. the next orange line train to forest hills. is now approaching
he verges the yellow strip
latina mom two little daughters
teenage after-schools at their little rectangles
skateboard flipped by a toe
he leans out. scouts the incoming line
you hear the car scoop its air channel
– attention passengers. the next orange line train to forest hills. is now arriving
retreats a couple feet backward
rocks his soles. arm pendulums fist weights
you are near his side now
tired men with dinner in mind
train ready to snap from arriving to arrived
put a hand on his chest
– don’t do it man
no flinch no resist no none of your business
– (mutter)
– nobody will help me out
eyes raised. fallen
a five in his hand
– thank you
on the car secluded seats
his elbows on knees. face in hands
two stops your exit
– take care of yourself sir
– (mutter)
– (mutter)
moist corneas
– thank you sir
David P. Miller’s poems have appeared in print in Meat for Tea, Stone Soup Presents, Ibbetson Street, and the 2014 Bagel Bards Anthology, and online in the Muddy River Poetry Review, Wilderness House Literary Review, and the Boston and Beyond Poetry Blog. His chapbook, The Afterimages, is forthcoming from Červená Barva Press. His has three “micro-chapbooks” available from the Origami Poems Project website. David was a member of the multidisciplinary Mobius Artists Group of Boston for 25 years, and is a librarian at Curry College in Milton, Mass. He studies with Tom Daley, and has been seen in the company of one or more of the Bagel Bards.
Thanks David- Evocative.And i was just on the orange line going to Craig Sonnenbergs.Best! Vinnie