Any World But This One - Rebecca del Rio

[Lawrence Robinson]

Any World But This One

On the metro, the Boss blasts 
In my headphones, my eyes
wander my companions, wonder at 
their stories.
In this particular hell,
this hot, sticky, airless hell
we grasp any distraction, extraction
>From discomfort.
 
I seek, “any world but this one.”
But then, what kernel or seed
Of heaven, of beauty do I miss?
When the woman. beside me,
typing a text. lifts her head
I see she’s bearing a private grief.
A beautiful stoic, stirs my sorrow
and compassion. Here now that illusive
heaven I seek, that world within
all worlds—if I look for it, 
if I wait.

 
	- Rebecca del Rio