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.