Metro Mayhem

The poem 'The Homeless' was inspired by one line in this poem, 'Metro Mayhem'. I posted the other one first because I liked it more. This is a brief look into my daily commute...

Cramming in tightly
Pushing past others into one of 6 or 8 tubes
Crying babies, gossiping co-workers
The guy next to me got his eyes
To my page-- glued
Nasty attitudes stemming from Life's disappointments
Always passing by the tribe under the bridge
They are many, they are homeless
While construction a few feet away will give way
To the Squares and Courtyards where they'll never live
Tunnel of darkness gives way to Union Station, and many pile out
Here come the bad ass kids--
N*gga this, b*tch that, f*ck white people they shout
Connection point is busy busy
People rushing in blocking others on their way out the door
Men pushing, shoving women with children
For courtesy is not common anymore
Shuffle shuffle down the stairs
People standing in the way
Shoving shoving passersby
There are no 'Excuse me's to say
Everyone is in a hurry
So I scurry to the platforms edge
Close my eyes as the lead car passes me by
The stale wind flows through my dreds
My feet touch the ground of reality
As the doors open in front of me
People pushing into the car
A man in a tight suit stumbles clumsily
Shuffle shuffle, push and shove
Inside come the moving crowd
The boy that sat next to me
Has his music playing too damn loud
Girl on cell phone pleadin with Someone
She looks ready to cry
Someone's grandmother behind me
Taking about some apple pie (lol)
Made especially for who she calls affectionately her Grands
Out of the tunnel of darkness and back into the light
My train car and mind expands
From my seat on the inside
I look out the window
Almost an hour has gone by
And I ask 'Where did my Time go?'
Close to my place of employment
Gotta focus and work hard
Only to return to this Metro Mayhem in eight hours
Because my journey is so far
Pushing shoving off the train
Old lady hits me with her bag and on my foot she steps
3-2-1 Jesus, 1-2-3 Jesus
Can't act a fool cuz I aint made it to work yet!
Baby steppin up the stairs
The smallest increments always
Out towards the exit I can make a full stride
Just ready to start my day
Most of my commute's frustration I can hide
Five days a week, twice a day through this turmoil I will go
At the end of the month, I will have done this 40 times!
Just another day of Mayhem on DC's Metro

BLF 4/15/09 ©