In the Tracks by Ode Senior

In the tracks
by
Ode Senior

11 o’ clock at night
The homeless that sleep on Park Avenue
Do have belongings.
Boxes rapped up in white plastic.
An old woman seats on a plastic box on the side -walk.
She eats cold bread
Her face looks like a wrinkled brown paper bag.
She reminds me of the way my Grandmother would seat
In the kitchen on her old stool and eat a mango.
I keep walking some times don’t look
At this homeless that snores
On his feet a cut
Cars, taxis, trucks and beautiful people pass by.
Christmas lights; I won’t cry.
Christmas lights are a pretty thing.
The rats in the subway tracks increase
In size and quantity
Silence…
No body around…
A man in the tracks
Did he drop his bag?
Ten seconds, fifteen seconds
Too old to lift himself
The train is almost there.
The men is in his 60’s
He is swimming in the east river.
His wide laugh with out teeth.
Shinny eyes still look at me.
The Christmas lights went off.
Only two enormous ones on my eyes
This man has dreams to dream tonight.
Christmas lights at his side.
He is on the streets but he is alive.
Perhaps I am a foolish girl
Carrying away the homeless wish
Perhaps infected by rats.
Like a baby he played in the subway tracks.