En Route
1. Riddle (Boston)
Coed on subway platform
swigging OJ from a carton:
knee-high black leather boots,
black leather short-shorts and halter-top,
hooded black face-mask
with pointy ears sticking up.
Costume? What occasion?
Ah, METRO’S got the answer:
“DARK KNIGHT.
Premier today.”
2. (Somerville)
Outside
Eglise Baptiste de la Bible
a formerly Catholic
neighborhood church
now Haitian Baptist
a signboard proclaims:
HELL IS REAL—
Sunday’s sermon
in foot-high letters.
Added in italics beneath
(an attempt at outreach?)New!
English Translation!
3. A-Train Riddle (Manhattan)
Eyes drawn to
gilt-flecked lettering
on the black t-shirt
of the brown-skinned,
middle-aged woman
seated across the aisle.
Keeping Jesus Strong, 1611—2011
printed above the silk-screened image
of an open book.
Below, another cryptic caption:
400 Years, Keeping Jesus Strong,
variation on the same puzzling theme.
Wait! Got it!
The King James Bible’s
400th anniversary.
4. (Brooklyn)
Only two storefronts
not shuttered
on this Sunday morning
Brooklyn side-street.
Outside one
sandwich-board
on sidewalk
(black print,
all caps)
advertises
SHOE REPAIR
CUT KEYS
CASH 4 GOLD
The other
three doors down:
signboard
written in cursive
with blue Magic Marker,
invites:
LOST LIT?
COME BE FOUND!
WRITING WORKSHOP.
Who said poetry
and commerce
can’t mix?
