THIS AS ME

emergency, you need to respect
the sign: put on a hat and look confined.
clouds are circling the fast-paced falling
rain, induced to float into your head
but here I've been regarding you as me,
flattered by the evening's history.
here I've been regarding this as free.

the train is slower now you've lifted
up the lids, embraced the outdoor passing
by, and everyone has conversations
in their heads, a scar to put you back
to sleep. here I've been regarding you as me,
falling into my own conspiracy.
here I've been regarding this as me.

"This as me" started out as the phrase being repeated in my head on a train en route to San Francisco. Over the next few long hours, and jumbled between random words, it became a poem based on everyone's condition on the train.

--J.B.