Apricity

A poem

He’d not seen me yet, 

So I smile again.

And again. 

He looks up,

his newspaper so crinkled in his fists,

and the lines on his forehead cross. 

I smile once more, 

And he puts the paper down. 

And he nods.

And he tips his hat.

And he puts out his cigarette.

And he sits up straight.

And he smiles back, trying not to forget

That I, a lonely girl, had smiled for him.

---

She saw me, 

So I smile brightly.

She smiles back forcibly

And walks away,

But turns back again. 

And again,

Her gray hair streaking the blue sky 

And skirt so bright it draws nighttime to my world,

I smile once more,

And she turns around.

And she hurries up,

then turns.

And before I know it,

She walks back to me,

And she fixes me with grace,

And she pays for my coffee.

And she holds my face,

And she brightens the place,

And I smile back again, and she waves,

But I want to thank her, for making my lonesomeness

Worth coming back for.

---

And this morning,

I crinkle my tissues,

I pick my pen with heaviness 

I start to draw, but I look up,

And a little girl waves,

And she beams her little teeth.

Ice cream melting onto her shoes,

Her mother busy cursing for the bus.

So I sit up straight,

And I put the pen down,

And I fix my hair,

And I tilt my head,

And I let out a heavy breath of air,

And I steady my chair,

And I simply stare,

But the bus runs in, 

He stands between

Two lonely girls who smile at strangers

Unable to smile at each other.