Turtle-man totes his world on his back,
a navy nylon knapsack of necessities
decrepit contents culled from crumbling corners
of trash cans, thrift stores, old times
back when life was cookie-cutter options.
Weather worn skin, valleys of wrinkles, winter
coat over shoulder for all seasons, cell cable
dangling down. Deftly he darts among
suited successes and struggling single moms,
clutches, caterpillar-cocoons, and
twists the train ticket to Somewhere New,
grimy with gray-city grit and grunge
ragged fingers running races over the numbers
slick-shooting his tongue over slimed teeth
hammering a fisted hand over his heart
in sporadic spasms speared through body
each time the clock ticks ten more minutes.
An hour early outside on the bench, blinks
on rapid fire function to filter frenzied thoughts
beard barely twitching beneath chin
like a bell on its last lucid vibrations.
The train storms in, and he is thunderstruck
by the strength and genius of great men
creating together: wants a crack at it too.
Boards, finds central balance, becomes
a piece of the puzzle, a section of the system
incorporated in ordinary interaction
not just a landmark on the landscape.
Partnering seat stays empty til end—
businessman bunches nose at his neighbor
scorns stench and scraggly ensemble.
Turtle-man transports his shell from train
joins current of the city, feels connected,
accomplished, celebrates with a glass
and another, and a-hazy-nother,
a swing of alcohol on borrowed cash
til stumbling blind through new city streets
with new thriftstore jeans dragging

backpack strap broken, hanging
from one arm, almost gone
now dropped in the gutter, ignored
everything owned, behind him
everything known, behind him.
new city new streets new broken promises
alley cats hissing at stepped-on tails
sagging men in sleepy stupors
leaning on walls of elliptical alleys
he staggers he drags he drops
rain-pissed road running with regret
cigarette buttes burnt and boot-crushed
blackened bubble gum blobs
haloing his head on the sidewalk
dizzy trying to trace drops from the dark.