The number
Alexandra Bergmann
posted on the board above the tracks
is outdated and therefore made
of ten numbers rather than three.
Waiting in the station, back
by the tunnel mouth, I fade
between fish, phantom, and me.
I count and consider the pacts
to which I’ve sworn. I’ve traded
skyscrapers for the sea.
Out of the skyscraper. Out of the sea.
As the hotline music plays,
it is the number that holds me back.
Alexandra Bergmann is a writer, educator, and scientist from the San Francisco Bay Area. Their poetry has appeared in The Madison Review, Black Warrior Review, Mantis, and other publications.
Table of Contents for A Formal Feeling