Dedicated to the Commute

by Kate Kinloch

Outside;

The air was heavy, sticky and

stagnant. The fervent heat

swamped him. Distracted

by the car fumes

and cherry blossoms – pollution

mixed with Nature’s perfume.

On cue, the man sneezed and

walked

Down to the platform; Here,

he was part of the scrum that piled onto the train

in a shapeless, lump of conformity.

Trying to compete for that one brown seat

unapologetically.

He sat down

and subjected himself to a strangers’ gaze.

His head filled with words and conversations.

He watched

the mosh pit of passengers rock

as the tube rattled between stations.

From Darkness to Light.

A daily routine with one mutual destination,

hurtling through tunnels and

– a brief exhilaration.

The man got off the train and heard a faint sound.

He knew it.

His mind enveloped the sound like sea does

the sand on a warm day.

The sound of a Sax that carried him back

to a simple happiness he once knew.

A sound that his memory had slowly let go

but longed to remember.

His Mother’s kitchen,

where the jazz vinyl always played.

The saxophone spoke in melodic phrases. Waves

of notes rising and falling

with control and fluency. The player

offering to the commuters - his poetic musicality.

For a moment, the background chatter of

train sounds, and wordless people,

listened too.

But a gust of wind

Blew and the sweet sound drooped

to a muffled cry, scattering over

the weariness of the crowd. From

Darkness

to Light.

The vapidity of the once beautiful sound the man had heard; A

silence that

seduced the commuters into a rhythm

of life they would never break.

The saxophone could never compete with the rising tide of muted voices.

But it continued to play. A

Light

in the Darkness.

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