The rain splatters on stained sidewalks
and polishes pebbles on the
slick, gray road packed with cars
and hustling people caught up
in traffic jams,
the sky above is stormy gray
yet calm; there's a settled beauty
within a dreary, wet day
I'm walking amidst the busy street,
rainboots, high heels and
dress shoes all alike flowing
along from offices and
buildings and schools
and whatever places of importance
to get home, where it's nice and dry
and there's someone warm
waiting inside,
There's the coffee shop and bookstore
I always go to on
rainy days like this one
to watch the flurry of movement
outside as I sit contentedly
sipping my steaming mug of
dark coffee and turning the pages
of a worn book to greet my small
friends on every page,
But today I am one of the
paper folks out on the street,
weighed down by heavy coats and hats
and dress shoes
walking hurriedly against the blowing wind,
I board the subway, with its mix
of gray-blue seats filled with
lost faced people glancing out
the clear windows
and the isles are held by standing people
glancing at their watches,
the moment reminds me of
Daniel Powter's song, Bad Day
where the woman sits down
not far from a settled love
of two people leaning on each other
and she brushes away the distant thought
that she is alone,
and the fluorescent light
preserves the moment in my head
and I glance around wondering
if there would happen to be
a moment like that for me to take,
and I see a guy
with tangled hair and jade green eyes
standing a short distance away
watching me, and he smiles
before turning back to the girl
beside him
and that moment reminds me of
James Blunt's song, You're Beautiful
because I feel a twinge of curious sadness
as he puts his arm around her
and for an instant
I pretend the girl is me before
turning away,
I look up and the sky is still
stormy yet bright, and everything is
going by in a blur;
the trees a mash
of brown and evergreen
red and blue houses blending into
their pink and white shutters,
I catch a glimpse of a man and a woman
engulfed in each other's arms
kissing, standing on the porch
of their white two story house
with yellow shutters
and in that moment I feel like
the ******* the train,
dazed from a strange fantasy in my head
happening to play out on the screen
of a reality that never really
turns out right,
I close my eyes the rest of the way
and let myself drift apart
before joining the stream of paper people
stepping out of the train
and walking off into the distance.
12/06/18