Bus Ride
I wrote this poem as part of my senior creative writer position with FOURALL Magazine, and I was lucky enough to have it featured in their seventh issue which you can read here. Bus Ride takes mental health and the metaphor of an empty bus and explores the ‘road to recovery’ and how it can sometimes be very difficult to begin that process and actually let people in. I hope you enjoy this poem!
Bus RideI sat alone. Three years ago,
staring out at a blank scene
punctuated by static faces.
The bus was empty–lights off,
engine growling calmly. White noise.
Do you know how difficult it is
to raise a hand, heavy as my heart,
and turn on the lights? Open the doors?
They hiss, gliding apart invitingly. Outside,
kaleidoscopic bustling stings my eyes.
Let them in. But now they are in,
bodies upon bodies, chatter upon chatter.
Emptiness becomes nostalgic poison.
No. This is the light–the better place,
where the bus moves on and life continues.
My eyes are open–afraid, but aware.
Enjoyed the poem? Why not check out Our Paused World or Aleatory Poetry?
(They’re my poetry collections! Available on Amazon!)
