commute

In the fall of 2019, I collected my thoughts regarding the unique experience of taking the bus to work and wrote a poem. Between my home and work is a college campus. College students hop on to shave 20-30 minutes off their walk to class. About five people, however, are not going to school, but to work or the grocery store on the other side of South Hill.

The mood of the bus changes quarter by quarter. Everyone is so fresh and anxious in the fall, the bus is loud and conversations bounce between the seats. When mid-terms are due, a heaviness takes a seat and joins us on the quiet 7-minute ride. Earbuds are in. Few words are spoken.

Here is the poem that came out of that shared journey. The poem will never be submitted for publication. It is fluid thought, free range while it captures a moment in my life when I sat among them.

Commute

How quiet the bus is without the students
Missing minds rehearsing equations
The zombie mesh of earbud denial
The chatty girls in ponytails
testing the use of fuck and hell
No anxiety hovering
No feather fluffing
No classmate comradery
This morning, the Monday of Spring Break
I hear only the dry crusty souls of those
Going to work, thinking of bills
Wearing those blank stares that may
wonder how they will use their weekend

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Here is my current vibe illustrated in a meme. Take care.