City Life

These are just some of the many millions
of people I will never meet, speak to, connect

with. They fill trains. Bus loads pass by.
And all their lives

are as important
and as trivial as mine.

New to city life I find it exhilarating.
Sometimes it makes me feel small.

So, instead of honking the horn and swearing
at the girl who stepped off the crowded pavement
and into the oncoming traffic
I automatically hit the brakes

and smile at her,
moved by her vulnerability,
acknowledging
that we all make mistakes.

She smiles too.
A slight smile.
A flicker of a smile.

But I think she understands
the enormity
of her small smile

and the importance
of our brief interaction
and what might have been.