Enlightenment 82
On the bus people have plans in their pockets
and misgivings are loose change.
Their smiles tell you lies
and you pocket the difference
Stars drip from zips left open.
Pasty crumbs are worshipped as promises.
A 7up can is an omen,
And a black cat etched in the glass
winks at you
On the bus religion
is ticket ink,
and small talk-
that tiny it
tinkles on your fingertips
reminding you to smile
Beliefs are folded in purses
and sleep till needed,
curled up shy and hesitant.
They call themselves ideas
as they like to change their mind.
They feel ‘renegue’
sounds too pretentious
On the bus
a forgotten Smurf
balances his tilted chequebook.
Seeks solace inside a lost woolly scarf.
Blue hat poking the threads
hoping to be found
Wisdom is woven
through the Brogues of older ladies
and balanced on the buggies of
skint young mums
accents as broad as their laps
Spirituality is trodden
on to soles of the congregations shoes,
weary from a ride
where a dismount occurs
before their journey ends
Emma McCourty is a Cheshire based poet who performs her work around the Northwest of England. She had her first book of poetry, Everynothing, published in 2010 by Knives Forks and Spoons Press.