Doug J. Koonz Jr., Age 43, Certified Accountant and Father of Three, Pushes a Complete Stranger Into the Path of an Oncoming Train


downtown in the summer swelter
men in black suits
impropriety in shade and dress
jagged-eyed pushers with
mouths full of teeth
braking for the scent of submission

the subways packed by sundown
back alley whispers
smells that invade and pry away good senses
auras like paint swirling down rusted drains

lost.

trying to get out is hard work
you may as well stay
you may as well stay

he threw his life away
all his eggs in someone else’s basket
said to himself
dreams are but an immaculate memory
a consolation for lack of inertia

a voice inside interrupted,

do something. before you disappear

the urgency was palpable.

his mother always said
he never was one who could make his own decisions

until the tracks called out to him
begged
widening its gaping mouth of insolent need
his own eyes reflecting the only answer he knew

who was he not to be generous?