#818: The Traveller
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
She should have sat elsewhere.I did not like her,
that girl who squeezed herself in
between me and the bench's wooden arm,
with her faux-suede skirt gripping my thigh.
She smelled like the contents of my grandmother's purse -
crushed sucking candies and tissues and discount hand lotion -
and I thought she must be very lonely or European
to press herself so selflessly against a stranger.
Canadians do not touch each other.
She picked at something gummy stuck to her sweater
while I jiggled my leg in time to the clicks of the clerk's tapping pen.
Labels: the poetry
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28 comments:
Lovely - and you reminded me about the smell of my Nana's purse, lavender-ish and vaguely minty. It’s a good smell.
i have had this experience far too many times. why do they always smell weird?
happy delurking day (in the land of OZ) i have been comenting all over this place this morning and am running out of steam, yet persevering!
This almost always happens to me in the train and yes,they sometimes smell funky.
Happy delurking day (in Singapore that is)!
having commented before, I'm not sure whether I qualify as a lurker or not. but here i am, delurking anyway! (and yes, it is october 3 in aus right now :) ) happy delurking day, to schmutzie and also to the person who sits-too-close. those people give me the irrits.
Sounds like every crowded subway ride - or, come to think of it, bus ride - I've ever taken.
Happy GMD 2007!
Hey, if WEDNESDAY is The Great MoFo Delurk Day, then I expect a fresh, spanking WEDNESDAY post! Get on it, wouldja? ;-)
Love the poem.
That is beautiful. I found you through your fabulous delurking idea, and thank goodness for that! I will definitely be coming back!
That was weird. That sparked some odd deja vu in me, that I can't quite put a finger on.
Maybe it's all that time spent emptying my grandmother's purse.
European? and what about all those Americans (Canadians or not) who are used to hug at any time of the day with friends or with perfect strangers? (hey! I am French, don't hug me, I don't know you!)(I know, that is not a real embrace, you just touch each other's shoulders, not the entire body, and you give little slaps on the shoulder)
I don't wanna be a mofo lurker anymore. So here I am commenting. Hopefully I can screw up my courage and do it more often.
I don't ride public transportation much at all but when I fly (which is more than I would like to) I get the same feeling you are describing. Especially if I am sitting next to creepy middle aged man. But for some reason, being next to an old lady is totally ok, even if she smells funny.
confession time: i think i've been lurking (every so often) since lynn was writing sprigs. *blush*
but i do love your writing. and i thought it was about time i showed my m****rf***ing face. :D
I think I'm in love. with your blog.
"i didn't want to do it-i didn't want to do it" but you f-ng made me out myself and I can no longer be a mofo lurker admiring posts from a far.... I'm out of the closet and loving it. post a comment ~ Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] ~ main page
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