poem of the day 08.21.09

i’m in hell

fat teenage girls
on the train
in bikini tops
and short shorts
stretch marks reaching
across their stomachs
and all along the backs of their legs
they are cackling and
whipping each other
with wet towels
the train floor is soaked
with running water and soda
the little girls they are with
are throwing potato chips
and chicken wings all over the place
the boys are doing chin ups
using straphanger poles.
i realize that i am witnessing
the fall of man
the end of civilization
the decline of the west
only not the way spangler
envisioned it.
to the right of me is a man
playing reggae music
out of his phone
i look at the unused headphone jack
and wonder what it would be like
to strangle the life out of him
right here on the train
would it stop the teens
spraying water?
the girls throwing food?
the boys and their chin up?
i doubt it.
instead i close the book
that i was trying to read
and lift my eyes up toward
the ceiling
thinking this is the sort of shit
that makes a man go crazy
or find god.