poem of the day 01.10.11

the girls

the girls sit on the bus
making each other laugh
they are doing
strange voices
entertaining each other
caught up in their own world
they are not aware
of the puerto rican boys
watching them giggle
or the old men
watching them kick
their creamy legs
in catholic skirts
the girls
are not aware of their breasts
of mankind’s hunger and cruelty
they are sharing ear buds
and laughing out loud
the girls are sending
text messages to each other
discovering expression
working out a routine
that only they know
they whisper
i love you
to each other
and hold hands
pure
untouched
laughing the whole time
the girls
the evening doesn’t
want them to leave
but when they do
they leave
with cackles of youth and joy
and when they are gone
a cloud settles over the night
those of us remaining
are left with nothing
but this world
the hum of the bus
and the slim hope that something
better awaits us all.