Thin slices
Thin slices of other people’s lives I wandered past and through.
I walked past a house with the door open. Shiny floorboards. A hat stand. From inside, I heard the sneeze of an animal.
The woman next to me in the hairdresser, getting a sharp bowl cut in an elegant grey, said ‘experimental stem cell therapy’ and then ‘third person in the world to have it done’.
A bouncy 20 year-old approached me, his girlfriend tugged along behind by the hand. She, swept up in the energy of his boundless enthusiasm, smiled and watched his mouth as he spoke to me. He pointed at a pot plant I was carrying. ‘Plants?’ he asked. I pointed down the street and said ‘on that next corner. There’s a table at the back where things are on sale’ and he said ‘Sonic. Son. Ic. Going there for sure. Coffee?’ and I pointed past some market stalls. He saluted as he walked away.