Ride This Train

In a crowd of those
laughing and pleased
with themselves and their words
for a minute or two

Been trying to write my own ticket
Spending my words
like subway tokens 
to get nowhere really

Realizing that my tokens
are anachronisms
for this crowd
I look around for

a faintly rumbling track
and get myself up
to the edge
to wait

thinking to disturb them
and make myself
a splatter of memory for them
for at least a minute or two

But of course I cannot jump
so I get on the train
with everyone else
Seeing how many of them

have the same clear
and hunted look I am wearing
Recalling how many of them had been
standing as close to the rails as I

In a minute or two
this train will stop
Some will file off
Others will get on

using their own versions
of tokens or transit cards
Many wearing the same clear
and hunted face

which may in fact be
the truest and most trusted ticket to ride
If you are born to ride this train
through these darkest tunnels

for anything longer than a minute or two
your certainty that you don’t belong
may be the surest proof that in fact
you do