-the day porters-

i stepped into the morning
elevator with an old woman
who cares
for the building and
her cleaning cart
which is
a trash
can on a cart

told her i’d heard
something funny
that
someone had
referred to her as
the “day porter”

i’d smoked with her
outside and often but
to this she didn’t smile
or grit her sandstone
teeth or even lift her
blasted old face from its
vacant
downward
fix

then i noticed her hand
  a grandmother’s hand
on the rim of the can or
the pit of my stomach and
her mouth i swear didn’t
move when she asked

if there was a dead baby in here
we wouldn’t notice the elevator
is taking us
would we?