Two Women, Two Generations
I stand in the heart of the bus,
Amongst the wave of sweaty bodies
Elbows that touch
And shoulders that kiss.
You sense my discomfort
And ask if I would like to sit next to you.
I nod and move past the wave.
We sit in silence.
Both gazing out the window,
People watching.
You ask me where I’m from
I tell you about my heritage
And you smile
And I look at you
Properly look at you
And I am reminded so much of her.
Maybe it’s your palms that indicate you’ve lived many lives.
Maybe its your openness.
Maybe it’s your purple dress with the little lilac and magnolia flowers on it.
Maybe it’s the way your eyes widen with wonder and fire,
Or the way you fidget with excitement.
You tell me you’re from Colombia.
And we begin speaking in Spanish
You tell me about how you live between London and Alicante,
How you hate staying in one place.
And I see so much of myself in you.
Two women.
Two different generations.
You tell me about colonialism,
About joy and what that means to you.
You tell me about your travels
And how you met your husband,
That neither of you spoke the same language,
But your bodies spoke
And so did your eyes
You tell me that you learnt Urdu and Arabic for him,
And that he learnt English and Spanish for you.
You saw the world together.
You birthed two boys
With beautiful skin.
You tell me you are on your way to the hospital now,
To visit your husband
Your best friend.
That after 40 years of marriage,
You’ve been through every up
And every down.
And I envy it.
I don’t mean to,
But I do.
I envy the permanent bridge that you carved for one another.
Our stop is approaching,
We both know our conversation will now dwindle.
I press the red button,
Part of me not wanting to get up,
Not wanting to go anywhere,
Merely wanting to gaze out the window.
But I do.
We both step off,
And you offer to help me with my camera equipment.
You, this tiny elderly woman.
The traffic lights appear and we are about to go our separate ways.
You look at me and say “inshallah”
And I know exactly what you are trying to say.
So I nod
Look up at the sky,
And say it too.
