A loner who’s not alone

If only there were

classes on how to be lonely,

classes where we’d sit

by ourselves in a room

with a small desk

that only one elbow

can rest on

and a chair that teeters

on one leg

and where we cannot see the walls,

only the frame of a ceiling

with single lights dangling

spread far

like bright-pus yellow pimples

against a night’s face,

we wouldn’t have to

worry about we,

and instead would say

to no one at all

I

am alone,

are you?

*

A homeless man hobbles

up the subway

that hobbles up the city

holding a card that

hopes for some

spare change because

he is deaf, out of work,

and hungry,

but no one hears his plea

while the train yells

the next stop

where people get up

and start again.

*

It is often asked

if a soul can exist

in a civilization

with buildings

that block the sun

and eat the grass

and spew haze

that burns away

the morning dew

but it is better to ask

if civilization has a soul

and if not,

what are you apart of?

What connects you to

this?