The Girl in the Apartment Below

As the train whistled past the lonely road,
She stood still.
The stale neon lights illumined
the plastic smile on her lips.
Her burdened shoulder drooped.
Yet, she waved.
She was all but ten.

I got a glimpse of her sorrow beneath,
I blinked, and she was gone.
Why didn’t I share my journey with her?
She was all but ten.

–Srividya Kannan Ramachandran

--from "Mom Egg Review Literature and Art" Link here