Prayer for the Subway

I roar past
Ghosts
Old bones
Rats
Through centuries
Of Exhalation

Cubes of light
Become the semaphore
Of locomotion
Tunnels of tile
Are running ellipses

I examine silhouettes
Divine the auras
Of commuters

Read the same ads
Over and over:
Mantras that move

We all
Bow our heads
In prayer for each other
And sway in unison
To the screeching song
Of the iron choir

We ask
For the safe arrival
The timely departure

The peaceful ride
Toward the next ride
And the next
And the next

--Mr. Gobley