Exchanges

On New Year's Day, the people I passed walking
five miles through the woods
said hello, happy new year! with
genuine, eye-crinkling smiles,
we trudged with smugness of burning off the night before.
It reminded me of walking the South West Coast Path,
where people say a hushed, almost-apologetic hello as you
pass,
legs brushing scrubby grasses, hands held up to faces to
shade the sun, and cameras bouncing
against torsos.
Sometimes it happens on regular days,
telling someone you like their dog,
or better yet, someone telling you their dog likes you,
or a compliment for a scarf or pair of shoes.
A briefest exchange about the sun today, or
the way the wind is wild:
words between two unknowns
that become a structure to find a home in.
You could collect up these small exchanges with
passing strangers and use them as currency,
trade them in for coins
to spend on days when you haven't spoken
to anyone at all.