RHYTHM OF A GHOST:

You were the unexpected rhythm of beautiful stripped fragments

dancing on a billboard in the morning heat. Ticket machine rhythms,

smiles through glass, a picture of a parked car, a glimpse of a life

abandoned. You were coffee vendor rhythms, words half heard

repeated. Stair rhythms, feet rhythms rising & falling, the fabulous

rhythm of bands of broken yellow & steel, the curving rhythms of

metal benches punctuated by paper cups, sitting rhythms, cups raised

& lightly touched.

You were sunlight rhythms, shadow flickers through the window of a

moving train. You were the rhythm of the steely twins taking us

away into the the rhythm of the city of dreams. An unexpected young

man strumming his guitar beneath a gentle beard, underscores the

rhythm of a table, hands dance across it making shapes in the air.

The silent rhythm between cellphone rings. The rhythm of

wide eyes laughing at the thought of him & you, walking side

by side rhythms feeling lighter than in days, the whisper of

something familiar. The rhythm of waiting at ticket barrier rhythms,

counting poster rhythms, a second of reflection, a long forgotten

shadow pulls me back to earth, the rhythm of a ghost of something

dark obscured by rhythm of smiles. Descending escalators, tube train

squeals, the curve of tunnels pierced by the familiar roll of electric

snakes. Rocking head rhythms, dancing thumbs, the dog tooth nodding

corner rhythms of free papers drooping. The rhythm of distant eyes,

ignoring the names of stations offering escape into sunlight.

The rhythm of text messages waiting for us to return to reality,

traffic rhythms, throaty whispers, the microscopic stillness between

the fragments of a constant rush. The rhythm of somewhere else.

The rhythm of this moment, the curve of a street corner held close

between broken yellow lines. The rhythm of the space between us,

rhythm of the rush of silence, of loss, of something missing as I

walk away. The rhythm of a familiar shadow slipping back in behind me,

walking in my footsteps.

(K)