R. Gerry Fabian

The Scolding 

At the corner 

an old slavic woman
gets on the bus
lugging her shopping bag
like an infant
with blonde hair. 

She scolds it 

in a foreign language
when it slouches
next to her
in the seat. 

All the strangers 

on the Route 9 express
who notice,
smile within themselves. 

They were 

that bag
once.