An Absence Perhaps

A poem

Photo by Brian Jones on Unsplash

A sunny
Toronto
January day,
an anomaly,
a welcome omen.
You step onto the red
mobile boombox.
No seats available.

Pubescent testosterone everywhere,
chuckling, murmuring, rumbling.
“I thought Alyssa wasn’t with him
anymore. Why do they keep on
posting pictures together?”
You don’t know,
you don’t speak teenager.
Not anymore.

A man walks on the sidewalk.
Stone eyes darting ahead,
his stiff posture silly
in a designer coat.
What is he thinking?
Where is he going?
He’s aged since last time.
You feel nothing –
an absence
perhaps.

An elderly woman
tries to get out,
you’re in the way.
You’re always in the way.
“I’m sorry, here you g-”
OUCHHHHH
a shrill voice shrieks
from behind.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
You’re always sorry.