Studying the Suicide Hotline Sign on the CTA Platform
Adams and Wabash.
Brown line to Kimball.
6 minutes.
Immobilized beneath the beast
of Chicago winter,
petrified by the chill.
My eyes are the only piece that wanders,
falling on the plaque posted
to the nearest support pole.
8 lines long,
a poem of its own.
“There is help”
National
Suicide
Prevention
Lifeline
1-800-273-TALK (8255)
suicidepreventionlifeline.org
Free and confidential
There’s nothing beautiful about it,
but I still wonder how many
have found its meaning.
I wonder how many
haven’t.
The train pulls in to the station.
I step through the doors
and don’t feel
any warmer.