Watching The World Poem by Sallie Howson

Hidden behind
Dark glasses
And a plastic smile
I watch the world
Go by.

Ladies strolling,
Weighing up
The summer fashion
In Max Mara’s
Window.

A couple in their thirties,
One laughing and joking
On the mobile
The other looking around
Bored.

Old lady
In a large black hat.
Must be a tourist.
Yes, there’s the essential guide
Tucked under her arm.

Five men
Emptying a truck
Stop to holler
At the scantily clad girls
Sauntering by.

Someone is watching me.
I feel it.
Two beady amber eyes
Peering straight at me
From the chair opposite.

What do you see Mr. Pigeon?
A fat old woman
With broken dreams?
Or the spirited young girl
Who still lives within?

In answer
He jumps
To the next table
And pecks
At more exciting crumbs.

And I am
Invisible again
Watching
The world
Go by.