Go across the park at 86th. Then go down Central
Park West, and turn at 71st to Columbus. I just came
from a poetry workshop tonight. It’s a really good
class. We have to write four short poems for next
week, and read a whole bunch of fairy tale poems.
The driver beeps at a cab sliding into our lane. Tells
me it’s a woman driver. I yell out, honey, stay in your
own lane. The Museum of Natural History looks so
pretty lit up in the dark, and so do the trees in the
park, I tell him. And look at all the lovely buildings
I’ll never be able to afford to move into. I see his
name and photo glued on the window between us–
Singh. Are you from India? Do you pronounce it
Singh with the h or Sing without the h? He says Sing.
Are you a Sikh? Cash or credit? He gives me change
and says I told him a lot of things on the ride. I should
get a discount for that, I say. He says I should pay
him more.
Park West, and turn at 71st to Columbus. I just came
from a poetry workshop tonight. It’s a really good
class. We have to write four short poems for next
week, and read a whole bunch of fairy tale poems.
The driver beeps at a cab sliding into our lane. Tells
me it’s a woman driver. I yell out, honey, stay in your
own lane. The Museum of Natural History looks so
pretty lit up in the dark, and so do the trees in the
park, I tell him. And look at all the lovely buildings
I’ll never be able to afford to move into. I see his
name and photo glued on the window between us–
Singh. Are you from India? Do you pronounce it
Singh with the h or Sing without the h? He says Sing.
Are you a Sikh? Cash or credit? He gives me change
and says I told him a lot of things on the ride. I should
get a discount for that, I say. He says I should pay
him more.
Janet R. Kirchheimer is the author of “How to Spot One of Us” and “Seduction: Out of Eden,” co-written with Jaclyn Piudik. She is producing "AFTER: Bringing the Dead Back to Life", a cinematic documentary exploring poetry written about the Holocaust. A Pushcart Prize nominee, her work appears in print and on-line journals.