Steven Hendrix

Subway Dance

 

Paris metro

woman dancing 

to the accordion

and saxophone

passengers

laughing and

clapping

Dionysian ritual

missing only wine

underneath the city

of lust and greed

out of sight

and completely free

for two minutes

until the train

stops

and expels

the riders

who don't 

leave a tip

but the musicians

don't care

for the first

time that day

they had

created life

and awareness

among the sleepwalkers 

 

Steven Hendrix received his M.A. in English and Comparative Literature from California State University, Long Beach.  He co-hosted the pop-up bookstore and reading series Read On Till Morning in San Pedro, CA and is the co-author of the poetry collection Leave With More Than You Came With (Arroyo Seco Press, 2019).  His work has appeared in Chiron Review, Askew, Redshift, Silver Birch Press, and Drunk Monkeys, among others.  He currently lives in San Francisco.