Notes About The Poem

insufferable people

insufferable people
it’s city life
like the train bum
We see him way too much
once a week anyway - he's notorious.
you can’t just loom over someone
stand too close
I can smell him, gross
get out of my space
get out of my face
stay an arm’s length away
He makes me miss covid isolation
There’s vulnerability in human interaction
Charles asks me with his eyes
I look away - which says ‘no,’
but I’ll let you know.
As we slide into the station
I step back
and Charles steps between us
my exit, now behind Charles, is blocked from view
and Charles pivots to subtly block his exit
until the doors close and Charles steps out.
In football that would be a ‘pic’
in basketball a ‘rub’
but there are no flags here
no fouls or whistles
we’ve practiced this for years
sheering away, steering away 
misguided messieurs
.
.
A song for this:
Cannock Chase by Labi Siffre
Copyright © | Year Posted 2026

Poem

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Conn Avatar
January 18, 2026 at 10:22 PM
Le secret d’ennuyer est celui de tout dire. - Voltaire * … Et les énerver.
Vionet Avatar
January 19, 2026 at 6:41 AM
La poésie, l'art de dire tout ce qu'on ne dirait pas à voix haute.
Fallica Avatar
January 18, 2026 at 9:48 AM
Shades of the MTA. Usually a reliable shelter of sorts for the NYC homeless in winter. / Maybe I’ve asked this before. Are you able to pen as broad a range of style and topic in French as in English? Regardless, I always appreciate your authenticity & honesty. / Twelve poems in eighteen days this year thus far! That’s 1.5 poems a day! Do you have quota to maintain to keep your Poetic License? I let my Artistic License lapse this winter. I might renew in the spring. <3
Vionet Avatar
January 18, 2026 at 12:21 PM
I have quite a backlog of pieces. =] No, I'm not quite as nuanced in French yet - besides, all of my poetry sites are in english.
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