When Hearts Are Crushed By Vast Stones Poem by Charles Chaim Wax

I trudged
into the bus
plopped down
closed my eyes
when I heard a rattling sound
then a clank
and opening my eyes
spotted Pepsi bottle
on the floor
closed my eyes
and heard the bottle rattle
then, “Baby’s back, ”
from one of the
dope smokers
at the back of the bud
musta thrown it
now watched
when suddenly an old woman
struggled to her feet
while the bus clattered on
and just as she was upright
the Pepsi bottle hurtled
down the aisle
kicked by the dope smokers
and the old woman
stepped then fell
on her back
crying, “God. God.
I can’t move.”
The driver pulled to the curb
went to help but I called out,
“DON’T TOUCH HER
“injuries you cannot see
may be present
so the good you do
might cause irreversible harm
GET A DOCTOR GET A DOCTOR.”
As soon as
I entered my apartment
I mumbled
“Shoulda picked up
the damn bottle”
and that night
the sight of the old woman
kept sleep from me
and at 5: 03 in the morning
I wrote on my white wall:
TAKE BETTER CARE
in immense letters
continuing on
until
the first light of dawn.