Cashier’s line, foot tapping, texting, heavy sigh
The steady beep of the checkout
The kid in the baseball cap in front of me
His headphones don’t contain the music
“I don’t wanna be a solider mamma, I don’t wanna die”
The bus whines as the light shifts from yellow to red
A woman coughs, violently choking on years of tar, she looks around anxiously
And rights herself with a casual flick of her cigarette
A couple briefcases walk by, donning blazers and red ties
“Ya gotta be the best if ya wanna make it there. Brilliant! Boom boom boom!”
A woman sits inside a cafe, the spot where people do their people watching
Instead her infant captures her attention, cooing at the pink bundle in the stroller
“Yes you are the cuuutest little thing aren’t you, aren’t you?”
A man flicks his wrist to glimpse the time while he pumps gas
Silent, wanting to be elsewhere, that’s why he’s filling up his tank
A swarm of tourists, each waiting for the others to advance so that they might snatch the prime spot for a photograph
Their voices melt into one excited static
Cars honking at bicyclists and bicyclists yelling at pedestrians who yell at bicyclists
The river flowing quickly beneath my feet planted on the bridge
The Earth alive, rotating beneath the river
The Earth hurtling through the galaxy, through the universe
A passerby scolds me for not moving
Hurrying along