Standing firm against the swaying of the metro
stance spread wide, legs clothed in blue denim
a pensive thought on her face, observing
a teenage girl scribbles lines in a notebook.

A green backpack hugs her chest
water bottle in the mesh side pocket
one- no, two sips already taken
it's been refilled; the label is tattered.

Head turned aside to view her writing
blue ballpoint across small rectangles
the metro train lurches
causing her "i" to cross instead of dot.

A foot away from her sits another girl
writing in a smaller notebook
looking up at the crowded metro
black writing on unlined pages.

A ribbon floats down from the top of her page
to mark her spot when she is done
a ribbon, powder blue
matches the writing on her shirt.

Neat line after neat line she scrawls
in a tiny, curvy hand
scribbled crossouts on some words
she turns the page to begin again.