When someone steps extremely gingerly
onto the subway there is a mystery
for our times, it is a little
pennant flown between the man and the state
and if he should exit at a very
bourgeoisie stop he slows us down
lanyard with an ID card
hanged from the end of it
shoes made in a Chinese prison
whose colors we are free to choose
there is something in a thin stream of air
on a day made huge with wind
tousling the half-red trees
in the park
that is straight out of a book
about the revolution
but most of it is a pressure
inversion that suddenly moves
all the air in the area
the spiritual element is
a pennant flown between the air
and the lips of the sleepers
and when a rat sidles up to you
on the platform
dressed immaculately his fur shining
there is something in his eyes
that will not let you read
your book which is all you wanted
from Poetry Northwest 06.1 Spring & Summer 2011More by Matthew Rohrer from the library
Copyright © Matthew Rohrer
Used with the permission of the author
on behalf of Poetry Northwest.