We walk to find the best spot
among hordes of office dwellers
staid-clothed men and women
let loose on lunch hour
clanking heels fast
tip-tapping on pavement
bags clutched, phones out,
& here we are
on Market Street
making whatever
small talk holds up the air.
Snapping us out of
empty conversation
a singing voice
bodied & operatic
cuts through
the entire block
vibrato unwinding—
as if produced by
steel vocal cords &
a stage performer’s mic.
This voice belts lyrics
to a pop song we recognize
but can’t name.
With sidelong eyes, we notice:
the voice is the man
bald and burly
unloading boxes out
the back of a FedEx truck.
Shalini Rana is a poet from Virginia and an MFA candidate in poetry at the University of Arkansas Program in Creative Writing and Translation. Her work has most recently appeared in Feels Blind Literary and Anti-Heroin Chic, among others. She is a recipient of the James T. Whitehead Award for Poetry. You can find her at shalinirana.com.