All Trains Are Going Local
By Timothy Liu
Slowing down your body enough to feel.
Thought you were at a standstill
but you were only slowing down enough
to feel the pain. There are worse things
than running to catch the train, twisting
your ankle, the afternoon fucked.
Running to get to or away from?
the stranger who helps you up
wants to know, you who are so used to
anything scribbled on a prescription blank.
Just want the pain to go away, you say,
surprised to find yourself
reaching for someone else's hand.
Copyright Credit: Timothy Liu, "All Trains Are Going Local" from Don’t Go Back to Sleep. Copyright © 2014 by Timothy Liu. Reprinted by permission of Saturnalia Books.
Source: Don't Go Back to Sleep (Saturnalia Books, 2014)