2/3 platform at 96th Street. October 15th, 2013
I saw Jesse over by the elevator. He looked curious and creative. Approachable. I asked and he said, “I can try.” I was blown away by that answer. So far men had either said a definitive “No,” or the had equivocated with, “I’d like to but I’m tired. Maybe.” How lovely to meet an open and inquiring New Yorker. Turns out he’s an anthropologist in the process of writing an article on mobility. Author of Living the Hiplife: Celebrity and Entrepreneurship in Ghanaian Popular Music http://www.dukeupress.edu/Catalog/ViewProduct.php?productid=17639
Mobility
Standing with
mobile bodies.
Some people on their
way to work around the
corner, some going nowhere
some starting long
trips that might end
in Niagara or Pakistan or
Scotland, some finally
home.
The subway is a
place and a non place,
where people stand
and meet, or don’t.
Paying attention to
body language or
ignoring it. Is that your
hip? Move your foot.
Every time you ride
it could mean
a fight or a drama or
flirting or silence.
Shoes are important
on the subway. You
stand up or sit and
shoes make a statement
about where you got
on or where you will
get off. Or they erase
your history. Willfully
announcing a new future
or at least
the hope for a new
story.
I like Jesse S. poem. I like it a lot.