Have you seen her? You know the one.
You’ve seen her in passing when the workday is done.
Commuters whiz past her, rushing from here to there,
But amidst the commotion,
She stands still without cares.
The train arrives, and others march in to stare at the floor,
While she waltzes in past the closing doors.
She’s that girl on the train.
She’s the one smiling as she gazes upon her illuminated phone.
Everyone else just wants to get home.
Text messages dance across a pixelated screen.
Cartoon hearts prance around during another daydream.
I pitied this girl, as I used to think,
“Oh, that poor girl doesn’t know
How hard her heart will break
When the boy lighting up her phone
Snuffs out the light in her heart.
Oh, you poor girl.
One day, you will be just like me.
Gawking at a giddy girl
Who reminds you
Of you,
A ghost of you,
Lost in the lies
Of a beautiful guy
With an ugly heart
But sweet brown eyes.”
Yet here I am with a new man on an old train.
I’m that girl on the train.
I’m the one smiling as I gaze upon my illuminated phone,
And like everyone else, I just want to get home.
“What’s for dinner?” I type, and press send.
“That ramen place was good. We can have that again.”
I picture the noodles, the egg, and the broth,
And when I see him, in his kind eyes, I get lost.
I laugh at myself, and then I think,
“I never thought I’d be here again
Embracing my ghost
Like it’s an old friend.
It’s true; he completes me
But not with himself.
He’s helped me regain
My own sense of self.
Now becomes present.
Ghost goes to past.
And never again
Will I put myself last.”