POEM: ‘Return From Elsewhere’
Don’t yell at me,
whisper: try to stop
I let him drink from me
I let him speed us up to the end
to extremes I couldn’t imagine—
(these are words
that cannot be written)
At the 7th Avenue station
drained and soiled
I forgot
what any child knows by heart
I couldn’t read the signs
it was late
I panicked
Where do you live, lady?
from the subway tunnel
a deep voice spoke to me
through the bars
dark, in shadows,
it should have scared me
but only an angel could have known
I was lost
I needed a ticket
he needed some change
(or was he there for another reason)
he swiped his card
guided me through the turnstile
I thanked him,
almost forgot to pay him
turned and went in the wrong direction
Where do you live, lady?
he shook his head, pointed up the stairs, across
and down—
he watched as I walked away
waited till I was safe
on the other side
and waved.
From “Return From Elsewhere” (Outriders Poetry Project, 2014)
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