Edmonton Bus

You kick a small piece of snow with your toe as you look at the bus floor. You’re trying hard to not stare at the man in the seat across from you. He’s well-dressed in a wool overcoat, deerskin gloves, cashmere scarf, and expensive shoes. He occasionally takes a sip from his white cup and looks up from his magazine, but he never looks directly at you or anyone else. He seems undisturbed by this weather, like he is comfortable with everything the world will throw at him. The other riders shimmy and shift in their parkas and snow boots, silently cursing the snow, the cold, and the tardy busses. The man sways with the bus, his shoulder sometimes brushing the ski jacket of the woman next to him. You like the sound of that exchange. Slips his empty cup in a coat pocket and dons his gloves. A block later he pulls the cord and rises. Thanks the driver as he steps off the platform, turns his collar up slightly. Snow falls onto his greying hair and you wonder where one might procure such a fine pair of shoes.

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The latest series of bus poems are now making the rounds on Edmonton Transit busses! This round consists of poems chosen for the 40 Below Anthology. Authors include Danielle Metcalf-Chenail, Jannie Edwards, Anna Mioduchowska, Diana S. Adams, Brad Kennedy, and John Leppard. You can read the poems here, if you’re so inclined. Read them! They’re awesome. And next time you’re on an Edmonton Transit vehicle, look up!

Thanks to all who contributed to the project. You’ve made winter in E-Town a bit more bearable.