She knew most called her plain and she didn’t mind
Plain didn’t get groped or ogled
On the New Lots train
Plain didn’t have to fend off whistles
And whispers and outright offers
To do things with their bodies
That only strangers bumping against strangers
On the Seventh Avenue local would
Ever think of speaking aloud
In a world that was halfway fair.

She did not envy the Asian girls
With their stovepipe legs and their form fitting skirts,
Or their waterfalls of jet black hair
Nor did she feel slighted by Latinas
With their gleaming copper skin and
Ample breasts, their hazel eyes flaring
Enigmatically, even at hello. No jealousy
Did she feel for black women, half of whom would have bitten
Off the offender’s lips at the first sullied word, the other half as
Scared as anyone else who became the object of a leer
And an I-pod earpiece left dangling as the predator
Mouthed his first practiced lines.

And she had no qualms about not being blonde:
Even those of tender age and albino skin
Were the victims of obscene eyes
And conversations they tried
To never join. Fresh suburban lambs
Who would need a week of rides
Before they learned to ignore
The lookers, and two before they
Pegged a horndog just by the way he breathed.

No, she was allowed to sit in the corner seat
Five days a week and read her Danielle Steele
Unmolested.

At times she wondered to herself
If the vultures knew that behind her
Glasses and twice-tied bun lurked a woman
Who was a hellcat in bed, and
Thought handcuffs and red sashes
Might be interesting accoutrements
In fantasies she never spoke aloud.

But she had a philosophy on that:
On the food chain, if you are
Going to get seduced, better it
Be by a lounge lizard in an upscale bar
Than a denizen with bulging eyes who
Happens to be sharing a seat
With you for four stations on the IRT.

09/13/2010

Author's Note: Circumstances - namely an untimely car repair - led me back to the NYC subway system, a conveyance I hadn't used with regularity in over 20 years, to commute to work for four days last week. I found the cars were cleaner, the grafitti was gone and there was even air conditioning. Alas, I also observed most of the behavior spoken of in this offering and whimsically surmised the rest. Enjoy.

Posted on 09/13/2010
Copyright © 2025 Ken Harnisch