Bus Stop Escapees
by Odin odin@aflx.com — Read all 3,869 poems by Odin odin@aflx.com
On reflection, for many in our cities a simple bus ride can dispel urban life’s endless struggle with despair.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Bus Stop Escapees
by Odin Roark
As a local bus appears in the distance…
The season’s gray sky dumps its steady torrent
from giant shower head,
dowsing derelict neighborhoods,
washing away lost yesterdays
for found tomorrows
Across the street…
Peering listlessly at walls
from behind windowed curtains,
reflective memories collide
as wrinkled weariness weeps,
incontinence taking its toll.
Down the block…
Children splash about schoolyard,
caution’s chain link fence
keeping out a would be
might be
could be.
At the corner bus stop…
Shivering in the rain,
a girl cradles her swaddled trouble
beside the boy answerable
cupping his hands over dampened match
beneath her cigarette.
The bus pulls closer...
Misery’s old faithful
about to open its door,
welcoming today’s escapees.
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Excellent write. I've not ridden on a city bus. I am experiencing
thoughts and experiences through your poetry of city life. Thank you
for a view.
Lady Mary Ann
a girl cradles her swaddled trouble
beside the boy answerable
cupping his hands over dampened match
beneath her cigarette. " - This is SO incredibly vivid! Also, you have a wonderfully contemplative juxtaposition of "today's escapees." It makes us ponder all the more, because the 'escapees' are on both sides of the door - in the bus, 'escaping' the doors as they exit onto the mean streets of grey banality; and at the bus stop, waiting to escape into the safety of the bus, if only briefly, to be released into the wild again... at some unknown stop, ahead, in the future, that may hold some promise of permanent parole. But... even better than making us "think," you, Odin, make us "feel" the viscerally-littered landscape of your poetry's canvas! Exceedingly well done!
simplicity + elegance = beauty
Ron