Andrew Calhoun

On the Bus 

©1980 Andrew Calhoun, unrecorded 

This is Chicago. I still remember what that girl looked like. Spontaneous kindness, so beautiful. 

We rode on the bus, 
Old people and young people, 
People with nervous tics, 
Riding in one direction on a winter day; 
We rode on the bus, 
Boy people and girl people, 
People who mutter and cuss, 
Sitting by born-again Christians on a winter day. 

We rode on the bus, 
Fat people and thin people, 
With perfume and bad breath, 
One guy wore a turtle dickie on a winter day; 
We rode on the bus, 
Dark people and light people, 
People with paperback books, 
People who read the paper on a winter day. 

We rode on the bus, 
Big people and little ones, 
A driver who doesn't say much, 
His long legs shifting gears through a winter day; 
We rode on the bus, 
People swinging from the handles in the aisles, 
In the middle of the buzz, bang buzz, 
Saw a girl give an old man her seat on a winter day.