The whole eastbound streetcar is quiet
until
one-body wants to sing a line of a Billy Joel tune
“In the middle of the night… in the middle of the night…”
This one line repeatedly
like a hammer to a steel beam all afternoon
The whole after-work-day vibe on the train now shook
This one-body
has a masculine voice
and a Caribbean accent and
sounds not as young as the body carrying it looks
“In the middle of the night…"
I might even say it sounds nice
“In the middle of the night…"
And it would sound real good
if you had bought tickets to the show
or if one-body knew any of the other lyrics to the song
But
when you on public transit
“In the middle of the night…"
the only tune people want to hear is:
“Next stop, home"