finding love on the bus

sometimes

i pretend

i'm choking on a walnut

or something

so that

people

on the bus will ask me if

i'm okay.

are you okay

sir?

they say.

do you need help?

can you breathe?

do you want me to sit

with you a while,

give you a Heimlich

squeeze?

yes. i tell them,

yes,

please.

i'm that desperate

for love

and affection these days.