Ring tone

Get on the bus
           at Putney Bridge
ahead of me
           a petite nun
traditional blue habit
           in her mid-forties
sits across the aisle from me
           mobile phone in her hand

As the bus pulls away 
            from the station
I hear the strains
           of the Ave Maria
and the nun answers
           in what I take to be
an Eastern European
           language

John Lyons