"Prone"

Photograph by James Steeber, textual accompaniment by P.B. Warrington

Photograph: “Homeless on Knaack” by James M. Steeber, 2020

My local Subway route home often takes me to this place on this uptown platform as I wait for my express train. Sometimes there is someone prone upon this equipment, as it is somewhat hidden away from the rest of the platform. P.B. Warrington supplies a sensitive observation of an all-too-common sight in the city.

                            "Prone"

                    Now there's time

        Any surface is cool down here

Daylight evaporating into incandescence

               No shapeless oblivions

                Anxiously beckoning

     Dream while no commuters hurry

         To a rain-swept street above

          Rise later and soak up time

          Away from the store fronts

         Head swiveling right-to-left

                Never looking back

             Return to these chains

                   A resting place

                 Anchored for now