Bus Tales - the blue line train

Blue line train
Lake street
Climbed the steps as a train passes

Enclosed old rusty bench
Hauntingly beckons to me
With a stringy voice

Sit down for a moment

With 10 minutes to wait
I pass up the offer and move on down

A teenage girl
And an empty bench

I look at her
Distress
Swarms her body
She has a distant look
In her eyes

Looking far away
At trouble so near to her

The wind picks up
My long blue beaded earrings
Remind me

I slide over a bench and sit beside her

And say "You look like you are having a tough day"

I open my hand and show her my beaded earrings.
Several pairs and offer her one.

She refuses

And thanks me

The pain in her face eases

And she thanks me again

Bus Tales - Hennepin at the Library

From the 11 bus
to a dangerous walk across Hennepin Avenue
To the bus stop across from the library

He makes room for me on the bench
And begins his tale
I look into his face and see a mask of sincerity

He tells me he knows me
My name is Jody, Jody Smith
We met in kindergarten at Horace Mann School

The buses arrive he stands up
Says good bye to Jody Smithas he boards the number 4 bus

I get on the number 6 bus
He leaves my mind
With crowded streets my travels are slow

Looking out the window
There he is walking down the sidewalk
Having a conversation
All of his own

Memories of Strong Handsome Women

doors opening
she reaches around me and opens the door
flowers adorning my house
small gifts given from the heart
stolen glimpses
yearning for remembrances
locked up in clothing
knowing that she only has to wait

she takes my hand

and leads the way

Bus Tales - 9th and Nicollet

Stepping off the bus
One foot at a time

Eyes swept upward from
The sidewalk patch work
Of cobbled pavers

A myriad of colors
Captures my eyes
Shoulder to shoulder
People are waiting to board the bus

Bus Tales - Sleep

Riding the number 5 bus from downtown Minneapolis to Franklin Avenue

Sleep swept over my body
Sending my mind swirling
Followed by a roll of my head in the direction of the swirl

With a pause and a inhalation of breath
Sweet melodic baritone tones
Captured my senses

The simple song
Started with sunshine
Moved into the darkness that lies behind
Closed eyes
Entering the soul

For a moment I was alone
Absorbing the wandering tones
Trying to make sense of the words

That impeded my sleep

Waking leaves me wondering
Who brought the man with the
Baritone voice to my dreams

Ever Changing - The Longest Day

What would you do if the day was as long as you needed it to be?

I would - -

Wash all of the clothes in my house

Turn over the earth and plant seeds in my garden

Sort and match all of the socks

Answer Tina's early morning text

   and meet her for breakfast

Talk to my mother so she would hear me

Write

Go for a run without pain

Breathe deeply to the bottom of my lungs

Bake bread, slice it when it’s hot, slather it with butter and eat it

Flirt with all of the interesting women that I meet

Stay up late/get up early

Water my garden

Hang my sheets outside

Weed my garden

Kiss some of those women

Fix Bobbies computer

Blow past the writer's block

Go for a really long walk

Get a vacation from diabetes - so I could eat and enjoy the bread

Share a bottle of red wine with my friend, Julie

        Then go for a really long bike ride with her

Listen to the rain

Take a nap

Go swimming with my guys Max, Fletcher and Mason

Wash all of the windows in my house

Stop by my friend Carole's house

    Pet a greyhound and soak in her calming influence

Plan a road trip to no where

Fly to NYC to see Kelsey

Start and finish a novel

Walk my dog as long as he wants 

   and let him eat with the big dogs at Carole's house

Watch the flowers grow

Bring in the dried sheets

Sit on Anita and Gene's red couch and watch TV

Have an ice cold beer, while sitting on my deck

Pick the flowers

Revel in new friends

Contemplate a ride on her motorcycle

Hang colorful lights on my deck

Invite Mary for dinner 

Slow the pace of my heart

Begin the process of remembering with Jen

Have a late night talk with River about long ago lovers
     Wondering when it will happen again

         And what can we do to make it happen

Prepare a fine meal

In case you are wondering

Mary is not one of the women I kissed earlier in my day

Mary and I will sit on my deck with Ebony at our feet and watch the stars come out

Breathe deeply to the bottom of my lungs once more

Make my bed with the sun dried, rain softened sheets

And go to sleep

Franklin Avenue

Still locked in a time warp 

Franklin Ave remains the same

The blue theater made way for art space

Which made way for spiders and their webs

Crisscrossing the windows smearing my view

Through the smeary windows

I see chairs piled with dust

Askew in their place

Wondering what truths the walls still hold

Decades earlier driving my yellow car 

East on Franklin Ave

In the shadow of the businesses

That marked the intersection of 11th Ave

I’m stopped tight in my car at a red light

A man wobbles in to my view 

Puts his hands on the hood of my car

Staring at me

Smeary eyes begging to be understood

He looks at me

The light changed from red to green to yellow

And back again

Time

And 

Time again

And still he persisted

Hands on the hood of my car

Staring at me

Smeary eyes begging to be understood

He looks at me

Red to green to yellow

Red to green to yellow

Red to green to yellow

The wind hollows

I am called by the Creator to be patient

His hands resting on the hood of my car

Smeary eyes begging to be understood

He looks at me

Red to green to yellow

At last a figure appears

Gathers his hands

And leads him to the sidewalk

One last time 

Red to green

The man is gone

Escorted from my view

Once seated in my yellow car

Now on foot

Heading east

Past the blue theater

Nothing changes on Franklin Avenue

INVISIBILITY

Cast off from family
Kicked aside
Stowed where no one could find me

Lost amongst the clutter of a life stained with alcohol

New life formed from cast-offs
Weaving together over and over again
Multiple times
Stops and starts
Sputterings

Lost glass beads to identify Native Blood
Swirl up and around me
Scattering in the wind

Holding claim to my INVISIBILITY

The Knights in Green Armor

a very tiring day
took the bus to the lung doctor

got affirmation
my observations
of clueless ER doc
were correct

That man was on track

to 

kill

me

Respiratory therapists in green armor
came to my rescue
giving medicine

to open my lungs

The correct medicine
not ordered by
ER doc