The Old Woman

The other day I was riding the L to work
(that's Chicago's subway system for those of you in California)
Nothing unusual about that...

I do it everyday
Same time
Same train
Same seat
Same everything

This day however was a little different

You see there was this old woman on the train
I had never seen her before
she appeared to be a cleaning woman
she was very old and seemed very much alone
the years had worn hard on her
was she 60 or 80 yrs. old?
she seemed very sad, beaten down
like life had taken everything from her

I couldn't stop looking at her
I started wondering

what was she like as a young woman?
was she beautiful?
did she like to dance? was she fun?
was she ever married?
was she ever in love? who with?
were they happy?
what happened to her?
does anyone love her now?
what were her dreams?
where did they fall apart?

I felt a certain compassion for her
this old woman who seemingly had nothing
I wanted to sit next to her and tell her
that I thought she was something
and I wanted to hear her life story
and tell her something that would be good
but I didn't know what I would say

The train came to my stop
and I got up and left
but I stopped and looked at her
as the train moved on

I went about my normal routine
but I kept thinking about this old woman
too bad she will never know
that she touched me
maybe she changed my life somehow

For now I feel like making my life
worth living for however long it lasts
I don't want to be that old man on the train someday
If I can't change my own life for the better
maybe I can change someone else's

Just like she did - just now