"Boys on the Bus"

I was earwigging
Not in a nosey way
More intrigued
Couldn't put my thumb on it.
Sitting to my left
To the rear of the upper deck
Three teenage boys
Doing what mosy young lads do
Chatting about girls.
I couldn't turn and stare
Didn't want to look like
The dirty old man that I am.
But they were
Real nice chaps.
Not in my usual
"Phwoar! They're cute"!
Sort of way
But almost from
The wrong generation.
No fake Jamaican
None of that "Innit, bruv!"
Instead just chatting about
The girls they know and admire
With respect
And not pieces of meat.
I have no idea who the boys are
Or where they were going
As I got off at Waterloo Bridge.
But if I had been straight
With children of my own
They are the sons
That would have
Made me proud.

Dulwich Poet 10th May 2013

( Three teenage boys on the bus, having a conversation, in such a grown up manner. The fact i noticed, makes me feel so old!)