In celebrating National Poetry Month, Lesley Misko Recalls Surfing the Subway

National Poetry Month was launched by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996. For the rest of April, each day we will publish a poem: your favorite poem--one of your own or one by a published author.

Send your poem to janeEstahl@comcast.net with a sentence or two about yourself as the author or why the poem is among your favorites. And stay tuned for announcements of local poetry readings in the area that you may wish to attend to celebrate the integral role poets play in our culture.

Subway Surfing
by Lesley Misko

I used to surf the New York subways,

seemingly smoothly gliding

over miles of silver metal track,

as the baby blue train car,

a gift of the ’64 World’s Fair,

car een

ed

its way around curves.

It was my surfboard,

seemingly bouncing off the concrete walls

that kept the track imprisoned,

jolting to an abrupt STOP

in each of the brightly tiled stations,

also baby blue.

No overhead straps for me.

And I shunned the shiny metal poles

that grew from the tile floors

like artificial mushrooms.

Instead, legs spread w-i-d-e

to create a new center of gravity,

my body twisted rhythmically,

to take the curves

in stride, as each one came.

Even at mid-day

when the cars were nearly empty,

I disdained the seats,

a few claimed by tired women

with their endlessly chatty children

or by unmemorable men working odd shifts.

I was young and sturdy,

and I yearned to ride the waves of steel,

sharp eyes searching out the distant skyline

as the train car

lu-rch-ed,

ever closer to my destination.

My surfing days are over.

back and knees hurting now,

it is of no comfort to recall

the skill

I once had,

as I gingerly

crawl

into

cabs.

Lesley grew up surfing the New York City subways and loving the freedom and accessibility they provided to all that the city offered. Lesley spent 35 years teaching 11th and 12 grade English, chairing the Boyertown Area Senior High English Dept,. and advising the award-winning high school newspaper. Lesley was active in scholastic journalism at the state and national levels, directed senior class plays, advised the National Honor Society, and chaired the school's program for gifted students. She was named Teacher of the Year in 1994. Today she is editor of The Boyertown Area Expression. A resident of Gilbertsville, she has a son Sean and one cat Leo. 

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