The Woman at Gate C7

She is on her phone

and not on her phone.

She is reading something

that requires her to look away.

She has a carry-on with a broken wheel

and a coffee she's protecting

like a small animal.

Her gate has been changed twice.

She knows.

She has not moved.

There is something about the way

she crosses her ankles

that tells me she has done this before—

been redirected,

been delayed,

been asked to wait

in a different place

than the one she planned.

She sips her coffee.

She does not look like someone

who is worried.

I want to ask her

how she learned that.