099.365 - innocence

I was just sittin’ there
sittin’ there on a bench waitin’
waitin’ for a bus
bus useta come 4:37 regular
regular as sunrise, sunset, or prayer meetin’s
prayer meetin’s for the poor, the invalids, the victims of crime
the victims of crime never included me
never included me before that wait
that wait on that bench for that bus
that bus that never came
never came but the man did
the man did to the bench
to the bench, in my mouth, then in me
in me and left me pregnant and diseased
pregnant and diseased with no goddam cure
no goddam cure for the disease
the disease but a cure for the pregnancy
the pregnancy, the only one I’ll get
I’ll get to raise him probably
probably raise him but not see him live
him live into marriage or whatever he does
he does without me except as a memory
a memory of who I was
I was just sittin’ there