day NINE HUNDRED and SIXTY SEVEN

Homeless

His sign said it was his birthday

and he was sitting at the bottom of the steps.

I had seen him before

and he was always kind

as I dropped a dollar into his cup.

The train hissed and sighed and rumbled into the tunnel.

Happy Birthday, I said.

and he thanked me.

It’s also Mary Shelley’s birthday

I added

She wrote Frankenstein

and he looked at me and smiled

and said,

I know.

It’s one of my favorite movies

and I smiled and

I wished him a good day

and climbed the steps of the subway

reaching the light

after so much darkness in the tunnel

and wondered

why

why are we so cruel to each other?

--Ally Malinenko