8:30am
and there’s a drunk
woman on the tram
chatting away
to everybody
the kids going to school
then a young mother
with her baby
strapped to her chest
it’s as if
life is one big
endless conversation
for this woman
though she pauses
to swig some more
red wine
from a water bottle
every now and then.
“you’ve got hair
in your ears.”
she tells an old man
“that means you’re a
fighter.”
people smile
the schoolkids
can’t stop laughing
it’s hard to be sure:
is happiness
our business?