Charles St. Terminal

Inspired by a woman that I encountered at my local bus terminal.

“S**t!”

She gasps, looking out at the people waiting for buses

She talks to herself quickly but loudly, turning away

As if she were reciting her lines for a play

A blonde woman

So neatly yet modestly put together

How could one bus stop be so full of crazies?

The old woman and her toddler granddaughter 

With bright yellow hair

Get up from their bench and move away in fear

While I draw closer

She mumbles so fiercely and so quietly

That I cannot make out a word

She is so tightly wound

Like a broken watch

At a mad tea party

Suddenly she disappeared

And my bus came

What did life do to her?

As I ride down King

I see her again

Beaming as she walks by the skating rink

In front of town hall

Reciting her own world for herself

Why does God hate her?

Reviews

[icelandicblue]

The end is powerful- society fears this woman- people are left to wander aimlessly- more often becoming victims than perpetrators and they have no one to help them. A society is judged on how it treats its most vulnerable citizens. You capture all of that within the implication of your poem.

[Naomi Bloom]

Thank you.