Grey, bleak, skipping past tired faces, sweaty lips, creased brows
White knuckles clutching yellow poles, chewed nails with broken paint fiddle with split ends
Empty eyes stare desperately into phone screens, typing but never pressing send; there’s no signal down here
We’re being pushed through time and space in the dark, under a million people’s feet we fly
It stops.
The gates open and the flock push through,
Disappointed before I even saw, I didn’t bother to check for life
Then in the mirror I see something bright, shining, a spark of interest, of beauty,
We fall into each other’s eyes and for one moment I let myself plummet into an ocean -,
Gladly. Until you look away, shy,
I pretend to read a newspaper, you pretend to check the map, and we resist temptation –
Not for long-
Euphoria! A smile has spread from your lips, travelled across a hundred miles and landed on mine, the sweet comfort of reflection is uttered between those two breaths we shared.
Jolting-slowing,
We stop again,
The doors open and we are torn apart.
The train moves on.