On the train

Three teenage girls

Unpick the polka dot stitches

From their school neckties

with ballpoint pens

*

A small boy carries his own weight

in school books, a satchel, a lunch bag, a water bottle

Chin strap attaching his bowler hat

*

A man reads a novel

wrapped in a paper cover

Eyes bulge

*

A woman writing on her phone

about her carriage companions

Does not know if they do the same