The Subway Lovers

He cares for her . . .
     He paints lipstick on her lips
          as she smiles, waiting
             for the train to come
                to pick them up
                   & take them somewhere
                                                             else.

He's brought his lover
     a slice of pizza,
         which she eats while
             concentrating deeply.
He speaks softly
    to her, while she concentrates
                                                      just so.
      Her eyes skate off
            in various directions, landing
                on inanimate object;
           The empty bench across
                                              the platform,
               on the other side
                  a trash bin, not
                     too far away;
                                            the laces
                                                     on her
                                              brand new shoes.

Both couples plan
                            for tomorrow, as if
               if were a promise,
     And their promises fall
          on ears so full of hope
              they need eyes to glisten off of
                    while their lips grow full & moist.

Ah! That dreamy look
              where all love hides;
      The vacant stare
      seemingly to nowhere
                                         yet, eternally
                                             a constant stare
      Into where everything of mystery
          reveals itself in the instance
                                               of a moment,
                               before Reality again.

And there's the string & string
                                                that binds us all!
     For however we perceive
                                               Love to be;
          There it is, in the darkest place—
                In the bright broad light,
                                                        Obvious and plain
                    A mystery explained
                                             that only They, today
                      Understand the total truth of it.
   And no one can say
        to be the other
                                wise.

Copyright Credit: Jesús Papoleto Melendez, "The Subway Lovers" from Borracho [Very Drunk].  Copyright © 2020 by Jesús Papoleto Melendez.  Reprinted by permission of 2Leaf Press.
Source: Borracho [Very Drunk] (2Leaf Press, 2020)