with gabriela
she rubs the lamp
while i click my heels
and the amused gentlemen
in the sports jacket
holding a broken flashlight
smiles gently as he watches
and the soot-smeared
face of the now-orphaned
child lights up as we smile
in her direction and reach for her hand
in the metro tunnel
with gabriela
she has remembered the radio
and i distribute the bread
and the shaken wife
whose blonde husband
is lost, asks to sit with
us and we quietly oblige
and the hungry teacher
with the frostbitten toes
thanks me for bread as
i put my gloves on his feet
in the metro tunnel
with gabriela
we have not rehearsed
for this moment,
but we have instincts to
trust in one another
the tunnel fills with our warmth
and the voices begin to
hum with happier notes, much
tenderness is shown
i know we have brought
comfort without plan, and it
is the least we can do, our lives
have prepared us for this
in the metro tunnel
with gabriela
her laughter disperses
the smell of sorrow
like ancestors taught
us when we listened
in the metro tunnel
with gabriela
above us the sirens sound,
but all i choose to hear
is the thump of brave hearts,
surviving through this darkness
