A Commute
I am on a train at the far end of rush hour. The guy sitting next to me shivers and twitches in fever: a plague in beige corduroy slacks and dark blue blazer. I chose unwisely and surely will pay in the days ahead. Spying an opening at the next stop, I cross the aisle to a freshly vacant seat and promptly occupy it. The seat is still warm with the heat from an old man’s buttocks, but no matter. Here in this new land there is room to stretch out and read a book about a hapless Death as the germs burrow deep into my lungs. Once situated, they begin to divide and multiply. Hurry, train, hurry. They’re doing arithmetic for Heaven’s sake!