Saturday at mid-day, on the western line inside a packed train,
Typical cast of characters filled the seats, couples young and old, Mommies and Daddies with energetic kiddies,
Young adults and teens, the jaded and upbeat, some occupied with social media and selfies, others readin, buried under Marxist theory,
In the midst are a group of women, on the cusp of middle age but they ain’t trippin’,
Bits of their anatomy not quite what they used to be yet their personalities remain kinda bubbly,
Laughing and carrying on, at times competing with children for excessive noise,
The others trying to stay poised, got no other choice,
Back to that group of gossipers, in a past life must’ve been high school cheerleaders,
Dressed to impress, complete with bags and bling, veterans of conspicuous spending, somewhere out there Thorstein Veblen’s spinning,
Their laughter and chatter a stark contrast to a woman seated across from ‘em,
Aged in her late 50s and maintaining a quiet dignity, got her eyes closed and meditating though the noise around her is deafening,
The leader of the loudmouths spies her, sizes her up like a lioness eyes its prey,
Turns back to her girlfriends, the cheer squad captain within came out to play,
‘Take a look at her,’ she sneers, ‘don’t you think she’s kinda ugly?’
From there one snide remark after another nothing short of cringy, talking smack about someone while they’re sleeping, it’s childish and petty,
They’re from different backgrounds, too, the bullies and the bullied, the former hiding behind probable language barriers, talk about cowardly,
It’s like Mean Girls in this joint for those within earshot,
Suddenly the quiet one’s roused by a phone call and here’s where things get hot,
“Hello?” she addresses her caller, “I’m still on the train,”
“Apologies for the noise, the crowd here’s insane,”
Turned her eyes toward the loud bunch, stared holes through them all, perfect set-up for the almighty coup de grâce,
“I’m just sitting here,” said she, “apparently looking rather ugly,”
Four words with a catastrophic effect, those noisy broads silenced in an instant,
Their faces beet-red and blushin’, penetrated their heavy make-up,
Y’all thought she was sleepin’, y’all should’ve known better,
So much for your flashy threads and expensive jewellery, no one gave a fuck it was a waste of money,
One ignorant move was all it took and now they’re staring and y’all are shook,
Those within earshot wide-eyed in astonishment, shit was cold but well-deserved,
Enjoy the ride, still a long way before your respective destinations, ‘til then people are gonna pass schadenfreude and joy at your misfortune,
Should’ve kept the beast in its cage, now y’all got eggs in the face, it was never gonna end well, y’all done played yourselves.