Bleak

7-January-• 19

Up before the sound of the alarm, go to the little

table, see that the 'phone is there, the doctors letter

set the watch, it is three minutes early.

and then take a shower, this should be something to

help wake up, to wash the sleep away.

There is snow in the street today, frozen half

thawed snow, hard and icy. Walk down the

muddle of the cobbled alley towards the

church. It is cold and dark.

At the bus stop, a friendly greeting from

Dolores, she wishes a happy new year... she

looks happy.

The bus driver says that the fare has gone

up, it is now one Euro and Thirty cents.

This is the last year of these daily bus

tourneys, the increase will not matter.

The railway station front is bleak and

deserted.

And the infection that has been there since

before christmas will not go avay.

In the waiting room there is a small thin young woman. Her eyes light up and she smiles. She is with her young child, the child in a pram. She may be from Ethiopia or Somalia, who knows.
Weeks ago she was alone and helpless on the railway platform, she did not know how the lift worked.
Now she does, and it is good to see her laughing.