The Laughing Lady

Speeding down the road I am late for work There is a serpentine line of stopped cars ahead The loud blaring of horns Break the rhythm of the music My car speakers dispense into my ears Everybody is swerving and swearing Avoiding an obstacle that I still don’t see I too avoid what looks like a heap of clothes I reach abreast and see a sight that shakes the foundation of my soul I see a lady frail and fragile Dirty like the day she was born Covered in clothes too big for her frame Sitting on the road, oblivious to everything around her So happy in her thoughts, laughing Enjoying the fate that life bestowed on her So happily insane, expressing sheer bliss At peace with her noisy surroundings, filled with dust and grime Singing a song of happiness My heart went into a spiral of thoughts She must have been someone’s daughter Her mother would have cried tears of joy Hearing her first cry, signaling her arrival She must have been a girl someday Full of dreams and aspirations for a future Maybe she was once married Might have had children What would have caused her to get into this state Of physical and mental degradation All these thoughts flow through my mind as I cross her Avoiding a pile of clothes and a small rag doll Which she clutches to her bosom As though it is a priceless treasure And as I cross the laughing lady So happily insane The thought that came into my hideously human mind was Oh! God I am late for work