Anonymity In the Subway
Numb…jammed like rows of canned sardines,
bodies avoiding faces labeled as print,
ticket stubs, and coats on a 7 pm bullet train
bound for home along dim lights on railways :
shadows gaze blankly from tight decks
cold frozen as still life masking their alienation
through buried heaves under woolen scarves…
And how passengers’ skin touching
each other’s loneliness cringe in the tram
without looking at each other’s eyes,
as if iodized by the pang of forlorn gasps…
nameless, alone, they grip on the hand-rests
from a dreary night where roofs of anonymity
blind them all empty, empty yet needing
any stranger to exchange untold stories with:
and they alight from a station to wander
along damp alleys as the underground
of invisibility and detachment remains withheld.
Brian Strand's Early Summer Standard Contest
Copyright © Nette Onclaud | Year Posted 2017
Post Comments
Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem.
Please
Login
to post a comment