Three Seconds

By KEITH NOBBS

Dear Diary:

“This train will bypass 42nd Street.
Repeat.
This train will not stop at 42nd.”

The woman sighs
Clearly tired
Too much 9 a.m.
Too much of a bad boss
Exhausted
Before her breath is finished,
Before she can even ask,
Her boyfriend
(husband?)
Reaches over and pulls her in
Tucks her under his arm
Like he was a schoolboy
And she was a textbook
No thought
A simple gesture
“Someone I love hurts.
Help them.”

My eyes fall back to my paper
Almost crying on the C train

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