Her fingers clicked
through the beads, one
by one, a silent prayer in progress
as the bus grunted in disjointed answer
to her hope of forgiveness and eyes
staring penance.
Her gaze never wavering from the unfolding
scene of life, horror in her mind
as I saw only animated Time.
Unseen
to me, something must have caught her eye
and slowly, with pain etched deep
in her face and a tear forming,
she put down her faith
and forfeited the remainder
of the journey, taking flight