Don't Talk to Me in a Cab
The man driving my Uber
apologizes to me
for being on the phone
as we speed through the Tudor
towers of Forest Hills after
midnight and past
a glowing LaGuardia
Airport and there’s no way
for me
to adequately explain
to him
that if he weren’t on the
phone, I’d rather walk
myself
in the dark
through four neighborhoods
all the way home. 
Ilana Weinstein is the author of When I Became Light (2023), a poetry collection chronicling her own coming of age in the city she loves most. Her work examines confidence, growing up, friendship, and love. Ilana believes that poetry is for all to enjoy, and you can connect with her on LinkedIn, via email at poemsbyilana@gmail.com, or at @poemsbyilana on Instagram.
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That turn at "if he weren't on the phone" does the whole job. I write a series narrated by a London cabbie, so I spend a lot of time on the other side of that partition, and the passengers who want silence are easy to spot and impossible to promise anything to. Four neighbourhoods in the dark rather than make conversation. Yes.