Davidson Garrett | You Talking to Me?

You Talking to Me?

“She flees from those who talk a lot about her.” — Alicia Partnoy

Nocturnal Manhattan — deprived of starlight.

I’m a zombie in my yellow cab’s front seat

numb with fatigue, spinning my tired tires

 

on Lexington, like a brain-fried automaton.

A frumpy, humped-back woman hails me.

Stopping on a dime — an inch from her

 

orthopedic shoes; she stuffs her wide ass

in the backseat of the Crown Victoria

bellowing: “Port Authority.” We cruise

 

west on East 39th, rumbling to the beleaguered

bus station. Out of boredom, I pipe up:

“Do you live in Jersey?” Like a snarling

 

witch, she shrieks: “It’s none of your business!”

Offended by her snotty insouciance,

I retort: “Got lots of friends down in Camden —

 

thought we might travel in the same circles.”

At that she snaps: “STOP THE CHAT AND DRIVE!”

I think to myself: Am I just a mere robot?

 

Is there a law against a cabbie

shooting the breeze with a passenger?

In the darkness of sinister midnight, I

 

deliver this grumpy —— (rhymes with itch)

to her hellish destination. She swipes

her credit card, slams the door with fury

 

as I take a verbal swipe at her.

Rolling down my side window, I shout:

“Lady, you deserve the Port Authority!”

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Davidson Garrett is a poet, actor, and retired New York City yellow taxi driver. He trained for the theater at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts and is a member of SAG-AFTRA and Actors’ Equity. A graduate of The City College of New York, he is the author of the poetry collection, King Lear of the Taxi. His new poetry collection, Arias of a Rhapsodic Spirit, is forthcoming from Kelsay Books. Davidson is a member of the PEN America Worker Writers School. www.davidsongarrett.com