From a train window, she watches
tombstones march by in the dark.
It comes so early these days.

Life can be so long.
In a superstitious land,
each word becomes a curse.

She makes herself very small
in her seat as a gang
of teenage boys invades the car.

They pummel each other
with fists and chests
up and down the aisle

just for fun. Or, just to prove
their vitality is their virility
to the rest of us.

She’s seen full-grown men
perform the chicken dance
with their jeans dropped to their ankles

to get her attention.
They didn’t need to bother.

Her focus on one of them
couldn’t be broken for years.

She’s got her eye on
figures who parade by after dark.