Lunch-losing
Emily Brandt (New York University, US)
.
.
The weather’s
………………on ice and I
am in it. 2:48
and Union Square’s bright
with snow-bounced
………..sunlight.
“Help me,” he re-
peats, repeats, repeats, one leg
………………………………..twisted
back, repeating the other
in another direction, one
……………….north, one
….south. A cane,
his axis,
..taps
…….out a rhythm,
“Help meeeeeeee,” drawing out
his E
……into 3 syllables,
……………………increasing
in pitch,
………maintaining a minor
…………………….key.
In each streak of white
sun, I could
……………see another E.
I crossed
the street
…………3 times
faster than he. He was behind
…….me.
Ahead,
………a Japanese fly(boy)
was dancing, rubber band
legs never giving
…………………out, his arms
twisted alphabetically,
his reflection:
…………….him again,
two dancers + four legs,
…………………………“help me.”
I backed up
…………….the block, put
twenty
………..bucks in his
…………………..(or my) cup,
Shut Up.
“God Bless You.
A cigarette?”
……………..2:51 and Union
Square’s bright
………………. with sunlit
…………………………..legs.
.
.
Emily Brandt teaches English and yoga to high school students in Brooklyn, co-edits No, Dear magazine, and is working on her MFA at NYU. Her poems have appeared in Podium, BluePrint Review, The LadyFest Anthology, Drought Street Mural, Fizz, and more, and her photos have appeared in The New York Times and The Jewish Weekly.
