Are You Not Entertained?

We like

to do nothing.

For a moment

he found himself

looking up from the tracks

at scores of faces watching them.

“Some people were

snapping photos

or taking video with their cell phones,”

he said.

“It was amazing

seeing all these people

doing nothing,” he said.

“It was

an eye-opener.”

And we answer:

we like

to do nothing

but

snap photos

for Facebook and Instagram,

stand and observe—comment

on the misfortunes

of others

and how

the world

is so wrong.

But never

get our hands dirty

while she tumbles

head first

from the platform

we’re all

preaching from.

© 2014 Jennifer Wagner

For dVerse Meeting the Bar:  Conversation/Dialogue in Poetry

Italicized words are from the news article by Murray Weiss in DNAinfo New York:  Humble Hero Saves Teen Who Fell Onto Subway Tracks.

Title is a quote from the film Gladiator.