April ain’t that bad.
The lilacs bloom briefly the first week of May,
But sometimes the scent falls on deaf noses.
Alone in a cafe, I drink cup after cup of coffee,
Talking to nobody for what seems like hours
All because they have free refills. Waitress,
Please take this cup from me.
I try to soak up some of the coffee with a croissant.
I pay my check and run to the Salem depot.

The boxy train squeaks to a stop at the mouth of the North River.
The seagulls that hang in the sky spy dozens of tiny soldiers
As we squeeze into the carts.
I smile to smell my comrades:
Ivory soap, old spice, dunkin’ donuts.

Huddling behind sunglasses and ear buds
Laptops flap open.
The avalanche of kindles and iphones covers the passengers.
Two-hundred eyes scan through emails.
One-thousand fingers play angry birds,
Flip through books, or become smudged with newspaper ink.
One-hundred minds, bodies doze off as the engine sings a lullaby.

Passing each so uncanny.
One is covered in tattoos and years of unburned calories.
Two is fitted perfectly to the assembly line cotton cut T-shirt and jeans.
Three releases the ecstatic syllables of a Slavic language
Like an orgasmic symphony from the lips.

I hover looking for a seat and find my self sitting alongside of me:
A thirty-five year-old man desperate to disappear behind a suit and tie and a career,
But there is no oblivion in the shirt and desk,
Just the joyous eternal dance of courting clients and making executive decisions.
We are eager for conformity and standardized measurements.
We try but can not surpass the unending individuality of our colorful nuances.
We are profoundly determined to endure the monotony
With spectacular force.
Each day the same yet still mysterious and enchanting.
If I look away for a minute, I miss it,
The heart of the universe
Riding this train.

Through the crevice of a rock,
We are illuminated
By Love.

 

Andrew Borne is 2 Cups Poet 1 teaspoon Musician 1/4 teaspoon Salt 1/2 cup Absurdity 3/4 cup Chef 1 egg, beaten 2 1/3 cups Family Man. Mixed together and served raw. His column 7x appears weekly in Oddball Magazine.