Rerun: 10/11/06

I've wondered about the alligator
women myself. I've wondered
where their necks have gone.
I've wondered why you won't look at them.

Once we coincidentally stared at each
other across the gnashing teeth of
passing subway cars. We were
commuting into the belly of the beast.

We are both uneasy in the face
of catastrophic failure. We both know
it is piggybacking silently in our psyches,
wide eyed and Sunday-afternoon-quiet.

As we struggle to avoid it, I watch
her rolled shoulders laughing while
you are on your phone. I think:
Better to be helpless than implicated.