Lost Art - Jan 12 2025

Lost Art

Jan 12 2025

The subway rumbles through the dark.

On the blind turns

wheels screech, lights flicker.

And as if on cue, everyone sways;

a field of wheat

with wind rippling through it.

All eyes are studiously averted;

most, glued to their phones,

while the few technophobes

and those who forgot them

lost power

or can’t be bothered

either stare into the distance

or look up at the crawl of ads

designed to prey

on our common desires.

Surprisingly, someone has a book

perched primly on her knees,

wetting a finger

before turning each page.

But no one talks.

Too shy

too self-conscious

too walled off.

And because the culture of subway cars

is to keep to oneself.

No matter how closely pressed you are

to the sweaty man

strap-hanging beside you,

how cloying

you find the perfumed lady’s hair

that repeatedly brushes your face.

The claustrophobic democracy

of public transit

demands a certain etiquette

of silence

boundaries

forbearance.

And is best managed

by holding your breath

until the ride ends

and the subway doors part

with a whoosh of fresh air.

No talking to strangers.

No risking rejection.

No taking a chance

you might brighten someone’s day

while passing the time

engaged in chit-chat

a few laughs

a pleasant back-and-forth.

Of even heartfelt.

Because after all

to whom better to unburden yourself

than a random stranger

you’ll never see again.

The lost art of conversation

in a solipsistic age.

In a closed car

in the thick of a crowd,

speeding blindly

through a dark tunnel

alone with yourself.

In the weekend paper, Ian Brown contributed a feature article celebrating talking to strangers, striking up conversations: how good they’ll leave you feeling, and how surprisingly receptive random strangers can be to a well-intentioned question or opening remark.  https://globe2go.pressreader.com/article/282591678590979

Coincidentally, I’ve been greatly enjoying a new podcast (new to me, that is) — which, as I recall, I also mentioned in a recent post — called Stranger on a Bench. So it seems that this is becoming part of the zeitgeist. Perhaps a reaction to an increasingly solipsistic culture of cell phones and the internet.

I’m not at all shy (despite being very much an introvert), so actually find this quite easy. I often do it waiting in lines, and a can agree: it’s almost always a positive experience, and the good feeling lasts for a while.