I Dream of Blue

by Jae Ming Jue

A spine of woven metal
stretches out above Wabash Ave.
I sat starkly on
my meditation mat,
a cold dark manhole
exhaling nether gas.

My thoughts, blue
in the heavy air
like congested memory
thick with noise.

In each direction,
a younger you
with jenny skin
and jade eyes
playing girl games
hopscotch
jumprope
jacks
dolls

I tracked a path along my third rail.
There was no sky to burden my shoulders.
No black children laughing at my pigeon dance.

Just the El
moving along my spine.