the girl down the road sold her love
and Nicholas never liked chocolate
so I bought him a lolly
when he came over to visit
me and my parrot
Alicia
and my dog
Kenneth
named after the children who jumped
from the bridge I always passed
to and from from work
the train was a putrid colour
with putrid smells
and the hippie who sat across from me
wore crosses around his ankles
his name was Jim
and in winters when it was cold
he would offer me a Styrofoam cup of tea
from the bakery three stops before mine
and the orange of the train wouldn’t look so putrid anymore
and I scuffed my shoes on the cobblestones
and ignored the lineouleum stains
and waited for spring
to rebirth flowers I would pick (illegally) again