NaPoWriMo #7: Spied a private moment

***

By the minutes

I saw a woman
wipe away
her tears

before they could
run trails
down her face

as she stands
by the street
corner,

             cigarette stains
             where the men
             wait, out
             of the way
             of flowing
             crowds

as she talks
to her boy
             on the phone

a million miles away,
or on another planet,

in another time,
most certainly,
in another place;

trivial matters
of child chatter
                      amplifying
into precious things
                      to share

while

she is here

and he is there
and 10 minutes
is all they have.

***