poem

She enters the train
Looks around for a seat
Sees a vacant place among a row of men
Manages to push through the crowd to grab the seat
A man’s hand touches her left breast
She glances at him and quickly reverts her eyes to the seat awaiting her
Hoping silently that it is merely an accident
An accident she is now accustomed to
Really accustomed to?
She reaches for her seat,
Men to her right left and front
Adjusts into the bench
Finds herself shrinking a little
Moves away from the bald man on the right
Only to have that empty space taken up
By the expanding figure of the man on the right
And then, on the left…
And then, in the front…
Shrinking some more…
And some more…
Until she reaches the edge of the cold metal seat
With arms, legs, elbows and shoulders huddled up into a leap.
Finally, jumps to her feet to find another vacant seat.