We sit in orderly, straightforward rows-
A mass of strangers brought together
For just a few hours.
This is simply the means
To get to wherever we’ve each chosen to go.
We each carry our own stories,
Our own intended destinations,
Reasons for why we picked up our stationary lives
And pushed them down the road
For just a few days, months, or years,
To move away from or toward challenges
No one else may ever know.
While we sit so close to one another,
Brushing elbows, sharing a small piece of time,
Few of us ask who each other are,
Few of us find a reason to really show
What has brought us to this moment
And pushed us all together
Regardless of status in life– be it high or low.
And so for the next few hours, we sit in orderly rows-
A mass of strangers organized and brought together.
In just a few hours, I will no longer remember
Those who took this journey with me;
For, we all too often fail to look beneath
The surface of who we are and what we should be.
–Written by Sandy Heights