These "portraits" are composed in the mornings, typically in a pre-caffeinated state. They are fictional representations of the people I share the subway with.
Thousands of worm hairs inch their way from the infected yarmulke. Beady eyes of a man once named Todd hastily scan a newspaper. He packed chicken salad with pickles on pumpernickel bread. He reads conspiracy theories in the back pages of the Weekly World News. He was born into a family of nine in the Bronx. He has been to the zoo a number of times that he has forgotten. His gold rimmed glasses were an exorbitant indulgence the likes of which he has not and likely will not repeat again. He has read of the prodigal son so he knows better. He feels guilty for not believing with all of his being. It isn’t even that he has doubts. Doubts would be a good sign; a sign of deep care being tested. What he feels is more like what an involuntary actor feels who is reading lines with his relative who is trying out for a part. He scans and taps. Gnosticism is not his enemy. The real estate pages with images of false idols are much more his speed. His mother is a generator; his brothers all engineers.
Thousands of worm hairs inch their way from the infected yarmulke. Beady eyes of a man once named Todd hastily scan a newspaper. He packed chicken salad with pickles on pumpernickel bread. He reads conspiracy theories in the back pages of the Weekly World News. He was born into a family of nine in the Bronx. He has been to the zoo a number of times that he has forgotten. His gold rimmed glasses were an exorbitant indulgence the likes of which he has not and likely will not repeat again. He has read of the prodigal son so he knows better. He feels guilty for not believing with all of his being. It isn’t even that he has doubts. Doubts would be a good sign; a sign of deep care being tested. What he feels is more like what an involuntary actor feels who is reading lines with his relative who is trying out for a part. He scans and taps. Gnosticism is not his enemy. The real estate pages with images of false idols are much more his speed. His mother is a generator; his brothers all engineers.
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