Mikaela Castledine #51 Observations on the Train

a  dark skinned man

with a cursive blue tattoo

his forearm

like the Mary Poppins joke

about the man with the wooden leg

is called Smith

his hair is shaved on one side

longer on the other

his small child

hops about like a bird

from dad to mum on the opposite seat

eating a supervised sausage roll

with instruction on how to squeeze the sauce

without disaster

sated and settling for a father's lap

the two lean back together

to watch the suburbs passing

his named arm tattooing around the child

the tiny purple plumbago flower

luminously tucked

into the close cut hair above his ear
singing a perfect note