A Victorian child was walking their dog
on the patch of green by the chip shop
and we got chatting about the weather.
We used words like ‘nippy’ and ‘crisp’
and ‘this time of year’ and they complimented
the matching woolly hats my son and I
were wearing and how it’s good to be
a part of something as small as small talk
sometimes and I did not mention how
their dog lead did not have a dog at the end of it
or how they were a Victorian child and I could see
through their chest into the non-beating heart.

© Carl Burkitt 2023