Suicide at Bergen St. Station
No one said you jumped
like a cartoon all akimbo.
No one said you said anything.
Not like that homeless woman
at Grand Army Plaza,
who screamed all her intentions
before her departing train.
That’s what worried everyone the most,
the willing silence.
You toe the edge, looking down that concrete cavern. Like so many, like so many there. Air pushes in front of the bulleting metal face. Everyone steps back but you. Nerves, eyes draw. Most don’t notice. Your gaze turns to the tracks, the running rainwater, the refuse, the puddles gathering. And then you lean an impossible lean, Michael Jackson lean, farther and farther, full tilt, slipping, someone starts toward you, the horn blasts and you are a lost diver, believing the water below you is deep enough, the water you were always searching for, your feet leave the platform and you are swallowed…
The train barely shuddered.
Wow, really fantastic James. My only qualm was when I got to "lean the impossible lean" and my mind sung "dream the impossible dream" and now I have that awful song in my head. But I support the Michael Jackson reference. That creeped the tone out just enough. A poem a day, huh? I'll have to check back here more often then.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's a little intimidating to do that, especially cuz my rule is no revised poems posted. I'm glad you dig it.
ReplyDeleteDang it. Now I have "Dream the Impossible Dream" in my head too.
I'm so pleased at your project. It ought to prove somewhat righteous. Did you ever know or hear of Donnell Hunter at BYU-I? My mom told me that he did the poem a day (this was 20+ years ago) and would post them on his office door. He swore by the process.
ReplyDeleteNice poem, here. It was "dream" for me, too. I don't support the MJ, though.