Local or Express?

I ride the subway with the people
At 6 am, those aren’t the people who make
the big decisions
At 6 am, I ride with people too old to
be dealing with this shit
People who can’t afford what they’ve worked 40 years to have:
retirement

I ride the subway with people from more countries
than I can name...countries I’ll never visit
Speaking languages I’ll never understand
People here to find what doesn’t exist:
American Dream

Here’s the action a little later
(when more professionals join the fray):
The 6 local and both the 4 and 5 express
stop at 86th Street
The 6 upstairs
4 and 5 down a flight

Frenzied New Yorkers...always looking for an edge
Trying to get a jump on someone...anyone
They stand on the landing between platforms
where they can watch for both
local and express
Hoping for express...it’s a quicker ride, natch
Will settle for local
Just get me on the FIRST train

Funniest for me to watch is when local
rumbles into station...sending everyone dashing
up the stairs only to hear express arriving a
few seconds later
Commuters momentarily frozen:
Continue up or reverse field like a halfback
to try for the shorter—more desirable—ride?

Imagine if we were all headed
someplace we actually wanted to be