METROPOLITAN

We

touch

shoulder’s

bumping

timidly

on crowded platforms

and packed subway carts.

In day to day

travels

going the distance

but never quite connecting

like perpendicular lines

aligned, but separate.

Never quite looking at each other

yes we look at the shoes

the boobs

of the woman sitting across the carriage.

But never really seeing

the smiles behind the frowns.

Never quite hearing

the laughter behind the groans,

the tears behind the angry glares.

A polite smile

expressions fixed

ahead in identical mask

of expressive nothingness.

We dare a few

“excuse me”

And                                                     (polite)

                        “thank you”

Never daring to look pass the outer surface

blemished

embellishments

An accidental touch,

hands

reaching

reacting,

in attempt to stop

the jostle of an uncontrollable jerking machine.

Forcing strangers together

in random

clusters of chaotic commuters.

As if we could reach through

underneath gloved fingers

underneath the metaphysical flesh

to the metaphorical soul.

Living in a population of seven million

makes it kinda easy

to overlook the random strangers we see daily.

Thinking that if we ignore the pain

reflecting in our eyes,

we can somehow suppress their silent cries.

But by doing nothing, we’ve done something.

In a universe governed by cause and effect

The consequence of each action

Or lack there of

Effected by and effect a

billion outcome

Each

entwined in a

cosmological

Entanglement

of

fate.