I claim a car

Before the train stops.

I get attached to a particular seat

The one beside the woman

With orange sandals

Reading a crumpled New Yorker.

The policeman on the Myrtle Avenue platform

Walks towards me smiling.

-Nice camera,

Almost as old

As that building you’re photographing.

I smile back.

I can smell the Fall

Today.

I’ve been sleeping better

At night.

It’s a graceful dance

For a Woman

A Fan

And a Top Sheet.

Regardless of the menstrual cramps

(quite puzzling on a third day)

And the headaches

And the mild grief

This life

Qualifies

As fine.