I found myself,
On the hard bench
Waiting for the train

Fixated...

On the swirling creature before me
dancing delicately
deadly

a wasp, with one wing
and a missing leg
dying before my eyes
frantically
fighting for life

losing
the battle

All of a sudden, out of the corner of my ears
I hear
"How are you today?"

Mind still pondering
whether to put the little wasp out of it's misery
or sit
and watch
it
squirm
for it's life

I look to my left
A man in his fifties sitting about 15 feet away from me
stares at me intently
We meet eyes
I'm still confused,
then I realize
there's no one else around,
so I blurt out
"Not too bad,"

Back to the wasp

Then out of courtesy,
I decide I should
Ask him how his day was

(the man)

I look over
And say, "How was your day?"
noticing his decrepit look
the tattered rags barely hanging from his body
his skin tanned leathery- years of abuse
his thinning hair, badly in need of a wash
Going every
which
way
white around the edges
This man had seen a lot
Been a lot
My stomach sank,
Afraid to hear the answer

"It's okay,"
He muttered
in his whiskey-husky voice

Back to the wasp
He was on his last legs now
slowing down the fight
when finally
He stopped
and like a cartoon,
lay upside down
legs in the air

I watched him for what could
have been 5 minutes

I envisioned myself
a god
And sped up time
and watched the man next to me
from infancy
until now
sitting next to me
Asking me how my day was
until the moment when

Finally

He tapped out
and lay on his back,
feet in the air
like a cartoon

"The train's coming,"
Said the man, standing up,
Staring at me again
Intently

Probably wondering what I was staring at...

The wasp never moved again.
I watched it from the train window

Hoping it would at least twitch
to signal it was still alive

Here was a man with one wing
Squirming for his existence
I overlooked

because I was torn whether to
put a wasp out of it's misery
or let the universe run its course
and take care of its business.

Sad.