Sit on a bench
Conversations wait in the silence.
In city centre parks, sunny sit spots are crowded by workers who escape their airconditioned offices to enjoy sandwiches. Weary shoppers rest for a while with their bags. Wanderers with nowhere else to go stay a place of temporary stillness. Finding an empty bench is a rare privilege.
If there is a space, we can stop for a moment. But we daren't sit too close. Silently existing at opposite ends of a park bench, most of us studiously ignore each other. Even turning our heads is an intrusion. We guard our privacy with headphones and sunglasses, looking anywhere except at the person who is sharing space with us.
How would it be to turn and say hello? What conversation is waiting in the silence between us?
