What I Learned Busking

Nobody tips the song. They tip the gap“between who you clearly are and who you're pretending,“for three minutes, you could be —“the professional, the undiscovered, the fine.“

I used to resent the coins thrown for the costume,“not the voice. Now I understand:“everyone on that platform is also pretending“to be someone who has somewhere to be,“and for three minutes we agree“to believe each other's performance.“That's the real song. The rest is just the tune.“