Kindness in an L.A. Subway

by Annie Klier Newcomer

4 million people call LA home. 4 million stories. 4 million voices…
sometimes you just have to stop and listen to one,
to hear something beautiful. LAPD HQ

Pastel Grey

Against the backdrop
of the subway’s makeshift stage,
her operatic voice blends
into the walls of a busy day
and exists but is taken
for granted much like the avalanche
of birds that descend,
expected to be there in time
to welcome the morning light.
'tho rarely thought worthy
of stopping to feed, even as
their songs feed the spirit.

Rose Patina

One day a police officer,
called into help, finds her
robbed of her violin,
dressed in pigtails
and homelessness.
He stops to record her song
that chokes his heart
with beauty, sends out his own tweet,
on his iPhone, resurrecting Puccini’s
O Mio Babbino Caro, shinning
his flashlight on her, to remind
the world of the splendor of kindness.