The bench presses hard and cold against my back. The noise is astounding, people rushing down the street, always in a hurry. Cars honking, rumbling.

Somewhere behind me I hear someone stop and talk to another they know. The words reach my ears devoid of meaning. The emotion in them fails to reach me.

The buildings soar. Too high to see the tops. Even now, as the shadows lengthen before disappearing altogether, lights shine in windows and dark shapes of men flit across them.

Beside me a man sits down and coughs. He has sat next to me daily for going on two or three months now. I do not know him.

The street remains crowded, yet I sit alone. Next to me the man coughs again. The shadows begin to fade to black.

Words are exchanged everywhere. Words. Nothing more. Tidbits of sound meaning nothing and leaving each party unchanged until they can go on their way and forget everything. The man coughs again and I look at him and he looks back at me apologetically but there is no apology in it. Cars honking.

People all around me talking without speaking, I sit alone as the hidden sky fades to black.