Sitting in a corner
a metro in Manhattan
heading up Penn-Station
lapping his bag lightly
against the exit of the cabin
a rush hour metro
no empty seat but two
next to this guy
as the commuters grew

three seats from him
a wrinkled old lady sitting
clutching her stuff and the rest
as others stand shaking
and no one says
but those two seats
go empty all the way

i sit next to the guy
with my bag and trolley
and one seat goes empty
between this lady and me
the guy leaves in a few stops
with the corner seat mine
but the two seat barrier
exists like a sign

and then a young women
replaces the old lady
and the two seats stay empty
as the stops go by
while i was the another guy.