Riding the bus
today
without squeaking brakes
and it's nice.

So much so
at some point
I decide to squeal
"Nice blinker"
to the car braking
in front of us
somewhat thinking
I was saying it
for the driver.

We all continued on
all 5 of us
on the 10:30am bus
approaching a traffic light

as I notice a man
gesturing his intent
to ride this bus

and in so
also throw his coffee and cup
into a nearby bush
instead of the garbage can
five feet the other way
(the way he was walking
to the bus stop)
and the driver
waved him in
since we were at the light anyway.

He had a ticket
and the first thing
that struck me
was his rancid smell
which then I thought
was perhaps the coffee
but was not sure
which made which
rancid.

So behind me
he sat
engulfing me
in a cloud of must

but this didn't stop me
from squealing again
"Nice blinker"
to the idiot
with the left blinker on
merging right
onto an onramp
or
from noticing
that maybe the driver
missed his calling
(or perhaps
already realized)
to be a
Smooth Jazz Radio DJ

because
the
way
he
announced
those
stops
was

smooth
smooth
smooth

and his present to me
other than his driving
was to announce
"New York Bus Terminal"
with that smooth voice
one more time.

I walked towards the exit
and said thank you
got off
and quickly found a spot
to jot this all down.

In the middle of writing
I realized
I was in between
two piles of bird crap
and in looking up
discovered the source:
pigeons perching
on the iron rafters
and soon they would
add to the collection
(as I did see the splat)
but thinking
I was in between the sets
gave me a better chance
than if I was over one of them.

I realized
I was not totally pessimistic.

I had just
cancelled two rancid things from life
with
two soothing and positive reflections

and perhaps
if you consider this poem
soothing or enjoyable
then maybe
it's really
3 to 2
in favor of me.

12/02/2008

Posted on 12/03/2008
Copyright © 2024 Jeffrey Parren