9. Public Transport

Night bus top deck back left Window cold enough to tell the truth Girl in a silver jacket crying into one earbud like the other ear still has to watch the world Man downstairs arguing with no one or everyone hard to tell these days Driver says move down please As if any of us know how A nurse gets on with tired shoes A boy gets off two stops too early An old woman carries flowers wrapped in yesterday's newspaper Could be romance could be grief Could be both London teaches you not to ask Just make room for the living evidence Everybody going somewhere Everybody nearly home Everybody made of weather Everybody on their phone Train carriage 11:09 Somebody's eating chips like a private emergency Somebody's reading a message then locking the screen then opening it again Hope has a refresh button now Two teenagers laugh too loud because silence might expose them A businessman sleeps with his mouth open Briefcase hugged like a childhood toy I love people most when they forget they are being people When the face falls between performances When the brave mouth rests When the hand keeps checking the pocket where a ring used to be When somebody whispers I'm nearly there And you know they don't only mean the station Everybody going somewhere Everybody nearly home Everybody made of weather Everybody on their phone There is kindness here but it wears plain clothes A seat offered without eye contact A bag moved without ceremony A stranger saying you dropped this And handing back more than they know Last train half empty A couple not speaking but leaning together That's still love sometimes A cleaner asleep beside a bucket A student highlighting a textbook with the focus of a saint A man with flowers checking the time Over and over Love is often punctual until it isn't [Build] Names on a board Faces in glass Every stop taking somebody from somebody Every door opening like a question Every door closing like an answer Everybody going somewhere Everybody nearly home Everybody made of weather Everybody on their phone Everybody carrying something Everybody travelling light Everybody almost leaving Everybody held in sight Next stop somebody's life