Flowers In My Mind

I’ve been riding the trains to and fro. I was sitting on a train the other day and I found myself getting a little uptight. Most people who ride the trains in Los Angeles are poor like me. I was looking at the people on the train and for a moment I somehow put myself above them as if I was not one of them. I settled down and told myself I’m here now, try to appreciate the beauty.

            In that instant the faces on the train became more interesting to look at. We're all here for a short time. Some of us have our marching orders and some of us don’t, or at least some of us aren’t paying attention. We’re part of the system. The system is set up so the wealthy can steal without reprisals. The poet in me thinks it’s all silly. Materialism is silly. It can turn good people into the dirty faces of the poor. The same faces that are now flowers in my mind.