poem of the day 06.25.09

we are all animals, all of us

some guys moves his head
to music and presses against me
on the train
the ugly beat of the song infesting my ears
while she takes up three seats
and won’t move for anyone
as these kids laugh
and put their hands in the doorway
so the doors will keep opening
and closing
so the conductor will keep yelling
over speakers so old
and the train won’t move
as the guy across from me watches
some woman’s ass swivel
and keeps saying, “goddamn, goddamn,”
until he has the whole train
looking at him and the woman’s ass.
but she’s trying to act like
the comments aren’t pointed at her.
i cannot read or think.
i look around me
at the dead flapping their gums
going over files and essays
slobbering on themselves while they sleep
talking trash, reading trash
or playing solitaire on their phones
everyone’s mouth full of yellow, sharp teeth,
and i think
we are animals, all of us
it would take so little just to get us
to tear at each other’s flesh and bone
maybe just a few dollars
or an argument over a television show
i think about this and i smile
then i elbow the next man
who gets on the train, welcoming him
to this hell
i get him right in the gut
he moans but he doesn’t even look at me
just presses up against the wall
as the doors finally close
and we all move on in the dark.