The automated announcer
says entering Oakland. Oh,
ordinary, endless circle --
no space my own,
shoulders touching,
thigh to thigh,
breath, books, bags,
the propositions
of drunken strangers.
I want to ride this route
farther than I ever have,
ride the tangent line all the way
to the suburbs, roll like a dog
in an obscenely green lawn,
pretend it is mine.
-- Jill Khoury
Jill Khoury lives on the South Side slopes and teaches at Duquesne University. Her recent publications include poems in Open Thread, Carnegie Mellon's Oakland Review and a chapbook, Borrowed Bodies, from Pudding House Press. Many writers featured in Chapter & Verse are guests of Prosody, produced by Jan Beatty and Ellen Wadey. Prosody airs every Saturday at 6:30 a.m. on 90.5 FM.
