Today's poem is by Mary Lou Buschi

I Saw a Girl
       

At a red light.
            A man
                        swatted the phone
from her hand,
            growled something
I couldn't hear,
            shouldered her back
onto the sidewalk,
            while another man held
open the gate to a building.

I couldn't tell.             I couldn't tell
            what their relationship was.
As she walked,
            head down,
I noticed
            her broken sandals.

I couldn't tell her
            I know how impenetrable
male power is and
            how I wished
to give her my shoes
            made for running.

The light
                        changed,
convection waves
            blurred the row houses
across the street.

Copyright © 2025 Mary Lou Buschi All rights reserved
from Blue Physics
Lily Poetry Review
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission