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Jan 2013
drip
drip-drop
drip
drip-drop
ka-thunk ka-thunk
drip-drop
CRACK!
ka-thunk ka-thunk
scrreeeech

like a badly tuned
but well-rehearsed
orchestra of
metal wheels on metal tracks
sticky doors admitting tired backs
intercom voice mumbles and cracks
rats paws patter and nibble snacks

and age old water drips, drips, drops
into age old puddles full of
age old trash in an
age old system of
public transportation

And the choir begins to sing:
"stand clear of the closing doors"
"yeah you'd better look away---
"clear the doors"
--you curly haired jew"
"59th street, stand clear of the--
"you *******"
--closing doors, please. 63rd street next"
"you think I feel sorry for you?"
"stand clear of the closing doors--
"I don't feel sorry for nobody"
--please"
"******* curly haired jew"
"stand clear of the doors"
"yeah you'd better look away"
"72nd street, stand clear"
"yeah, you'd better look away"
"stand clear of the closing doors please"

"81st street next. stand clear."
An old homeless man to a young boy with curly hair sitting next to him. Completely unprovoked, the man slung his racist comments, and everyone, including me, just sat there, looking straight ahead, pretending it wasn't happening. What do you do with people like that? We just sat there. And all I have to show for it is this poem, commemorating mine and all of our cowardice. But what do you do with people like that?
Natalie N Johnson
Written by
Natalie N Johnson  32/F/RI, United States
(32/F/RI, United States)   
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