F Train, Rush Hour

The headlines to yesterday's newspaper run across three seats, although she occupies only one. Her cheeks are two isolated swathes of bright coral. A pair of swollen feet rest on newspaper padding while printed current events flop complementary to the train. Her bony upper vertebrae curve in a line from the bursting plastic bag at her toes to her pointed nose. Occasionally she peers to looming commuters, huddled in five layers of black jackets, coveting a dust of fine white powder.