Member Poem

The Girl on the Train with the Dragon Tattoo

The girl on the train is waiting with a gun.
I saw it, saw its outline actually.
It's in tote bag, the one that says "I'd Prefer Not To".

That's odd, don't you think,
a tote bag, not a backpack or a purse?

I noticed her first not because of the bag,
but because she had no headphones in her ears
and she wasn't looking at her phone.

Odd, suspicious,
and significant,
like a dog who doesn't bark in the night.

She's a shining girl, with lovely bones,
and skin that glows
like she's been using that radium face powder from the 1930s.

But her eyes, did you notice her eyes?
No, I didn't notice the color,
but I saw the haunted look
like she married a man still obsessed with his dead ex-wife
or maybe she witnessed a killing
and fled here with a different name
and only what she could toss in her tote bag.

Now she's on this train
with her gun
and her past
and her dragon tattoo.

Oh, you didn't notice the tattoo?

I did.

I saw it when she turned her head to look out the window
and her shirt shifted on her shoulder just for a second.

She was looking like she was hunting for a face
she was hoping that she wouldn't see.

I notice these things,
I'd make a good detective, don't you think?

Well, maybe not on days when I'm caught up in a book
and haven't forgotten to charge my phone.

But days like this,
when I've read everything on this train car twice
including the  "If you see something, say something" sign.

She's suspicious, don't you think?

I saw something, that's why I'm telling you.