Public Transit

A woman scratches her chin,
crutches leaning against her leg,
the roots showing in her dyed-blonde hair.
A man with a lipstick kiss-print tattooed behind his ear
sits with his arm around his young daughter.
Another in a green-striped polo shirt
flips through the pages in a cookbook
and taps his sandaled feet.
An ombre-haired girl in glasses pulls the wire
to request a stop.
She shouts (thank you)
and steps out onto the sidewalk.

(next stop 23rd and Broadway)

We pass the Double Take hair gallery
and the law office of Donald Masuda.
A woman steps on with her black hair braided away from her face and her
white Labrador pulls her to a seat.
The man in the green-stripe polo shirt
closes the cookbook and rests his head
against the window.
We pass Freestyle clothing exchange,
the G.S.A.,
City Suds,
and Buckhorn Grill.

(next stop L and 17th)

The black-haired woman and her dog
step out by deVere's Irish Pub.
The man with the tattooed kiss-print and his daughter are gone
but the blond-haired woman and her crutches remain.