i ride the bus

A trip through my old neighbourhood brought up an onslaught of memories and recollections - this piece is the result.

I ride the bus:
it draws our life like a child's dot-to-dot animal-

 

here the motel she stayed in,
2 beds, a fridge (milk provided:
coffee extra)
and a laughing scuffle-
who sleeps on the floor?

 

do you remember?
my age won my place-
you got the bed

 

an empty lot stares now
as i search in vain for the place we made home
after my brother left when you had space and i,
i had unsettled rebellion born
in teenage independence

 

your mother stayed on the weekends
and my cat slept on the window sill

 

that house is gone

 

a few hundred metres away, that servo
still runs a roaring trade-

 

you drove from sherwood on empty
to save a dollar,
laughed, "it's downhill and besides,
you can get out and push"

 

I ride the bus:
it draws our life like a child's dot-to-dot-

 

this is the shopping centre where
we found my ring--
after you proposed, on your bed
to a handful of tissues and
a flood of tears and a choked
"you can't do it that way!"

 

we bought the collective works
of beatrix potter

 

back there, the turn off that would have lead to her-
Star Trek, curled up on the couch,
board games and card games and
the best cooking we've either of us ever had

 

we turned it sour
somewhere around the wine

 

just there, the house we moved to next:
you and i and
your family-
who now were my family, too-
five adults, three children, five cats,
a pair of mice and a dozen aquariums

 

we had a pool and a fireplace
and not enough privacy

 

that house saw us fall apart

 

i ride the bus:
it draws the rise and fall of us

Author's Note

While all constructive criticism is welcomed and encouraged, please bear in mind that the improper and uneven capitalisation of this piece is deliberate. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

Reviews

[nighttimesnoozer]

i like it :)