"Slide Into Town"

By Cecele Kraus

Have you noticed how the Greyhound bus
enters Moscogee through the back streets,
sidles into town, never causing a stir, and

have you noticed how the Trailways bus
smokes into Port Authority, passengers
all outcasts, barely affording bus fare,

no change for cigarettes or lunch stops,
and have you noticed when reaching Port
Authority, you’re unable to wash up or

change in the restroom, and arriving
cross country, ready for your appearance
in Brooklyn, in need of clean clothes,

you hear a policewoman say, no changing
clothes; so you side-slip into Brooklyn
just as you are, clammy and nervy, knowing

that sometimes you just slide into
town, slither in sideways, no one
expects you, and before you know it,

you’re eating cookies, right at home
and I wonder if you’ve noticed that.

Writer Cecele Kraus lives in Copake, New York.