Girl on the Train

Pink-shirted person
On the subway train:
How did you navigate
That terrain?

Perhaps your companion,
Your mom, I guess,
Helped prevent
Undue duress.

I watched you grab a dollar
From your mother’s hand
To donate to a beggar.
Did he understand

That you saw in him a person
Needier than you?
Yet he took your contribution,
So I guess he knew.

I looked at you and wondered
How it really feels
To cruise the city, gliding
On electric wheels.

It put things in perspective
But it doesn’t last.
No matter what – we get back
To our problems, fast.

You’re stuck inside my head, though,
With your ponytail;
Young woman motoring through life
Beyond the pale.

I cannot quite imagine
What your days require;
But just your presence
Makes me reach a little higher.