on the first working day
of this home-loan lifestyle
i hopped on the tram
a line i used to take
a couple of years ago
and sat down
in an empty seat
opposite a girl
all dressed up in
red wool
to ward off the cold
she looked at me
and smiled
and i wondered
about the last time
anybody randomly smiled at me
just like that
later
as i hopped off the tram
and waited for the bus
somebody talked to me
about the fact that we’d just
missed the bus
because the tram was held up
just around the bend
and i wondered
about the last time
anybody randomly talked at me
just like that
did i look somehow different
all of a sudden?