Subway Scriptures By Jasen Sousa
Subway Scriptures
8:30 p.m. and I’m on the subway
headed home.
Seated directly across from me was this guy
who had a Davy Crockett hat on his dome.
Seated next to me, on my right, was a man
with a horrible stench,
his sudden movements
made me flinch.
Standing up by the door, a man who was
wearing a trench coat and holding a briefcase.
Sitting down near him, an older man
with two sneakers and only one lace.
Against the subway driver’s door
on a sign which read, PLEASE DON’T LEAN ON ,
was a middle aged lady
who had all green on.
Down the way was a man
who had more holes in his face
than Cornbread from A Bronx Tale,
next to him, a woman who had on blue jeans
along with a sweatshirt that read, Yale.
There was a homeless man in the corner
mumbling, “Is this how life is supposed to be?”
Across from him, a woman
who had eight bags full of groceries.
One bag was filled with cans of beer,
I wondered how they didn’t tear?
Next to them, a young girl with black boots
fishnet stockings, a mini skirt and pink hair.
Directly across from her was an older man
who couldn’t help but stare.
I could hear him thinking,
“Normal people are becoming very rare.”
To my left, a hugely heavy man
who had trouble breathing,
and next to him was a gentleman
who had a burger and fries that he was eating.
The train had horrible brakes
and every time it tried to slow down
it sounded like people screaming.
A man passed out holding a bottle in a brown bag,
I wondered if he was dreaming?
We made it outside the tunnel,
hard to see the river because it was late in the evening.
It stopped at the next destination,
half the people on the train got up and began leaving.
The train descended back into the tunnel,
the lights flickered.
It was so loud that when someone had to talk
they leaned over, kissed the persons ear and whispered.
Across from me, a teenager with his headphones on,
I could hear the words the artist was singing,
an old school classic by Dr. Dre,
Keep Your Heads Ringing.
Next to him, a business man
who was checking his palm pilot
for some important appointment,
half of the people on the train made good money
and half collected unemployment.
The train stopped suddenly,
three people who were standing almost fell over,
half of the people on the train were drunk
and the other half were sober.
On the T there are
all these different characters I see,
as I sit waiting for my stop,
I wonder, who’s watching me?
Taken From
Selected Poems of Jasen Sousa
17-24
©
Comprised of works from:
Life, Weather (First Collection of Poems Written At Age 17) (Not In College)
A Thought and A Tear for Every Day of The Year: A Poetic Diary (Written Between ages 18-19) (Stint at Suffolk University)
Close Your Eyes and Dream With Me (Written During Early Twenties) (Bay State College)
Almost Forever (Written During Early Twenties) (Bay State College)
A Mosaic of My Mind (Written at Age 24) (Beginning Emerson College)
8:30 p.m. and I’m on the subway
headed home.
Seated directly across from me was this guy
who had a Davy Crockett hat on his dome.
Seated next to me, on my right, was a man
with a horrible stench,
his sudden movements
made me flinch.
Standing up by the door, a man who was
wearing a trench coat and holding a briefcase.
Sitting down near him, an older man
with two sneakers and only one lace.
Against the subway driver’s door
on a sign which read, PLEASE DON’T LEAN ON ,
was a middle aged lady
who had all green on.
Down the way was a man
who had more holes in his face
than Cornbread from A Bronx Tale,
next to him, a woman who had on blue jeans
along with a sweatshirt that read, Yale.
There was a homeless man in the corner
mumbling, “Is this how life is supposed to be?”
Across from him, a woman
who had eight bags full of groceries.
One bag was filled with cans of beer,
I wondered how they didn’t tear?
Next to them, a young girl with black boots
fishnet stockings, a mini skirt and pink hair.
Directly across from her was an older man
who couldn’t help but stare.
I could hear him thinking,
“Normal people are becoming very rare.”
To my left, a hugely heavy man
who had trouble breathing,
and next to him was a gentleman
who had a burger and fries that he was eating.
The train had horrible brakes
and every time it tried to slow down
it sounded like people screaming.
A man passed out holding a bottle in a brown bag,
I wondered if he was dreaming?
We made it outside the tunnel,
hard to see the river because it was late in the evening.
It stopped at the next destination,
half the people on the train got up and began leaving.
The train descended back into the tunnel,
the lights flickered.
It was so loud that when someone had to talk
they leaned over, kissed the persons ear and whispered.
Across from me, a teenager with his headphones on,
I could hear the words the artist was singing,
an old school classic by Dr. Dre,
Keep Your Heads Ringing.
Next to him, a business man
who was checking his palm pilot
for some important appointment,
half of the people on the train made good money
and half collected unemployment.
The train stopped suddenly,
three people who were standing almost fell over,
half of the people on the train were drunk
and the other half were sober.
On the T there are
all these different characters I see,
as I sit waiting for my stop,
I wonder, who’s watching me?
Taken From
Selected Poems of Jasen Sousa
17-24
©
Comprised of works from:
Life, Weather (First Collection of Poems Written At Age 17) (Not In College)
A Thought and A Tear for Every Day of The Year: A Poetic Diary (Written Between ages 18-19) (Stint at Suffolk University)
Close Your Eyes and Dream With Me (Written During Early Twenties) (Bay State College)
Almost Forever (Written During Early Twenties) (Bay State College)
A Mosaic of My Mind (Written at Age 24) (Beginning Emerson College)