What I Found on The 57 Bus
Smooth seats
plush and plastic,
silver support poles,
and aged stains are always
questionable, but the smell
of sticky sweat, saucy food, and
the alarming scent of a smoking skirt.
Screams, laughter, shouts, and flames
left the bus empty but changed.
Was it hate that day?
Or foolishness when,
Lord gave four chances to
turn back, but that thumb found the lighter
again, and again, and again until
there was only pain and regret.
Everyone left the bus scarred;
the city drew lines and children cried
“why me?” from inside confinement
and a hospital bed. Mothers suffered
just as much, watching their babies burn
in fire and hate. Tears were shed from both victims
by a “crime that changed their lives.”
Letters, words, and language
connected hearts to bridge forgiveness;
too late after the fact,
guilt meant punishment
and life meant time.
Would there be any left to change for better?
If only, they all thought.
The poem I wrote inspired by “The 57 Bus” by Dashka Slater is one where I tried to capture the normal scene of the day; it was supposed to be like any other for Sasha and Richard. But inconsideration and foolishness from Richard and his friends made a prank into a crime. I wanted to interweave this poem around the diction of: change, chances, connection, and forgiveness. I wanted the beginning to really convey how it was going to be like any other bus on any other day, and I was tempted to really delve into the divisions that kept Sasha and Richard from reconciliation sooner. However, I knew the division is not the focus of their story; it was the connection. Both took the 57 bus and neither knew or cared about the other; they were strangers. After this change in their lives, they have thought and connected in such a way, without ever really talking to each other. Their families felt each other’s pain and gained an understanding of regret; why did it have to be them? In a way, I hope this crime became a positive connection two very different individuals who had more in common than they might have realized. Above all, I wish them both better lives full of happiness and support.
Jellyfish Melodies 