as an afterthought, to pass the time
i read the names
next to mine
posted on the list
outside
one was an anil forty-two,
the other a gayatri thirty-nine
and exulting at
the possibility
of them – for once
– putting a woman next to me
i waited for this
perfect stranger to arrive
i watched the eyes
of all the women
between twenty and
forty-five
as they looked up
at the seat numbers
walking anxiously
down the aisle
the expectation in
their eyes
then a flicker of
recognition
a slight easing of
tension
as they stopped
short or passed me by
she turned out to
be
a tacky dress
who’s dad said
ok, so i’ll leave
then, even as he
swung the bag up
onto the overhead rack
and she waved
goodbye even as she sat
down in a mass of
glittering pink
and he was off in
a blink
she had her coffee
and then soundly slept
but to be fair, we
did have a little chat
at the end of the
journey when she wanted her bag
brought down form
the overhead rack
and then off she
went
with the uncle who’d
come to fetch her
he dragging the
bag, she clutching her purse
unaware that she’d
been
the subject of my humble
verse
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