BOUNDLESS

a larger
woman
stuffed

in
the 
back

vomits
and
the

bus
u-

turns

i
’ve
got

to piss
the 
driver

grieves
a
rest

stop
carries
its

beat
with pork
rinds

and
hamburger



BRIGHT

off
the bus the
air

swirls
it’s about 
to

rain
so i get under 
the closest

overhang
and stare
at my

shoes



SKY

the 
mop
and bucket

are 
brought
onto the

bus
as we 
stretch

under
the 
seamless

sky

i sit
on the 
curb

like
a cherry
on

   a
sundae



DAY

i dream inside
and eat
my

crackers
as my
back

breaks
and
an old

black

man
huddles

whisky
his

wife
holds his

cane

by
her worn

slippers



FROM

the
seats are
red

and 
blue
i

listen
to
my walkman

my
favorite
songs

ive 
run
away from

home



A

it’s the 
twenty-
first

hour
and the sky
darkens

the aisle fills
with
a

sleepy
moon
light

glow
as a young girl
falls

asleep
on
my

shoulder
earl-
ier

she told me
that she lives with
her

grandmother
near Raleigh

and feels
like
runnin’

away



BUS

in 
Lake-
land

birds 
chirp the
corner leaks

into 
a sewer
feet

stamp
and 
shake the

bus

the man

workin’ at the station loads

our luggage



WINDOW

the bright morning
in Florida’s
open land

my new friend
wakes up

and 

after an hours sleep
we stay up

for the city




11/30/2004
Author's Note: time trap is my running away song.

Posted on 11/30/2004
Copyright © 2024 Paul Marino

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by Melanie J Yarbrough on 04/04/05 at 05:55 AM
took me long enough to figure out it was the title in caps..lovely images throughout- love the "like a cherry on a sundae" line. and the cuts in the lines make me feel like I'm on a bus, moving bumping, swaying. "stay up for the city" so nice.
Posted by Melanie J Yarbrough on 04/16/05 at 03:07 AM
I suppose I should have picked one I haven't commented on-- but I just couldn't. Gabe, I absolutely love this poem- it stupefies me. There is nothing I would change about it and I've read it so many times, I've lost count. Simply stunning. (did I make it? #100, I mean..)
Posted by Melanie J Yarbrough on 09/01/05 at 03:36 AM
..still love it
Posted by Frankie Sanchez on 04/21/06 at 01:11 PM
this is superb. why have i never read it before this morning? nice work here... 
Posted by Shonda Creemer on 09/09/06 at 04:40 AM
I was blown away with every word/sound/movement. You are a consummate artist. "A" was my favorite piece by far, but I loved all of it. +fav
Posted by Cristy M. on 12/11/06 at 02:42 AM
it's a sad thing to waltz around your digs and see ditties that i had loved before and loved aloud so that everyone could hear how good i thought they were, yet see none of my old comments on them. if i'm not mistaken, this is the one i commented with one word: wicked. it's too much of a temptation to go through the entire process again since you know exactly how i feel about each one of them. it's like a familiar walk through a familiar city street but the house you used to live in was remodeled and sold to someone else. it's odd. anyway, i still heart your jazz--this one among the others. they're pretty flipping wicked. 
Posted by Matthew Sharp on 01/13/07 at 06:17 AM
are you under the influence of gas station food?
twinkies last really longer than me.
awesome!
Posted by Frank Lee on 09/05/07 at 12:10 AM
weird....time trap is an awesome running away song..been there...