Gladiolus

She ate sliced ham out of a zip-lock bag,
standing beside me on the subway platform
with her side-tilted hat showing she was
all spunk and all seriousness, making me
feel absurd to be holding these gladiolus
and heading to the far west side of the city
where my sweet friends with an Irish accent
had just had a baby removed.  

This girl with her hat and her ham and I
watched each other as the subway lights
came crashing through the tunnel
as though light could make a sound, and
when the doors opened, the girl sat
directly across from me.  Me on my way
to see my friend without the baby
and my hands felt so empty and so wrong
to be holding those enormous gladiolus,
half-a-dozen fabulous gladiolus
that I almost gave to the girl with the hat
because gladiolus, what a ridiculous thing to bring
to a place like that.