1973 :: (vii)

if you’ve ever
been taken home
by the dog
after a night
in the pub

you’ll understand
how i felt
going home
as a child
on the bus

i knew
where i was going
but i couldn’t
get there
by myself

an olive green
united counties
double decker
winding round
the old roads

and it
always
turned up
sometimes
on time

unlike
privatised
one bus in three
maybe
modern services

i loved to go
upstairs
i loved to sit
above the driver
at the front

looking over
fences
into people’s
boring
gardens

wondering
how the bus
fitted
the narrow
river bridge

rounding
bends
at speed
not
tipping over

with
a half mile
walk
at the other
end