Not big

on small talk,

the gossip of the television

or the town, occasionally

the ears hear something,

a word or two

on the bus coming home,

and I wonder if my earphones

have fallen out,

to be able to overhear

the excited chatter

of who loves who, marries who, hurts who,

snogs who, betrays who, who made who

care, but then, like an infection

you get caught up in silent

observance, and marvel at the beauty

of animated earwiggery, of the gestured

arms and the stony face pulled

into submission; not big

on small talk, but in the right

hands, it makes our society tick.

Ian D. Hall 2018