Having been forecast to begin raining at 5:00, the clouds
oblige; and at 5:04, it comes down, raindrops the size of dinner plates.
The general downtown population responds as if martial
law has been declared; and a couple in a vehicle the size of a team of
Clydesdales, lured by the seduction of a yellow light, has wandered into a ped-xing
zone, where they find themselves engulfed in pedestrians, all of whom are
thinking of hitting their hood with an umbrella but don’t.
We board our buses, slightly moistened. The man who sits down next to me, a
perpetually unsmiling, grizzled sort I’ve seen every work day for at least five
years, promptly closes his eyes.
It’s been raining for days. The sky hangs low and heavy; and the
Mississippi River rushes to meet it, throwing itself over the falls near the
bridge and up into the air in a mist that mingles with the clouds.
On both sides of the bus, we turn to watch. One day frozen over, one day free of ice,
time is marked by the river.
The river is wide,
I think.
Pleased with this thought, I turn to my seatmate, then
quickly turn away. He is sleeping, and I
am struck by this intimacy.
I steal another look. Eyes closed, face slack, he is vulnerable and
touchingly human. It’s just me and this guy on the bus, I
think. We’re going to make it work, whatever it takes.
I look back out the window.
It’s been raining for days.
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24 comments:
You have such a talent for capturing those little bits of humanity that we hide so deeply, we forget they're there. Nice reminder.
Aww. :-) Thank you, Tammy!
I was right there with you- enjoying every rain drop.
Shelly, I think me and guy next to me really have a shot. :-)
MAN. I need to get out more!
This is really exquisite. I'm in awe of your ability to transcend ordinary moments into the extraordinary.
It's warm and dry in your head, AND it's a beehive of thinking in there, too. Lovely, dreamy thinking.
Give us all an invite to the nuptials, eh? :)
An engaging and memorable prose poem, Pearl. My compliments.
It's been raining for days and days and days. Great engulfing of the HumVee.
Dammit, Pearl. This prose reads like poetry.
Warm, dry - and a hive of activity. Another beautiful piece. I do love your bus vignettes.
I was just wondering about you this morning as the news was talking about the weather in your area. It appears, that you are doing fine.
"time is marked by the river..."
I can empathize with that statement. The condition of water says a lot about a place.
I hope you two will be very happy. Haha! :D Great piece, Pearl. We've had lots of rain here this week too.
I do the same thing if I know exactly where the bus is going. sit down, close my eyes and wake up at the stop nearest my daughter's home for instance.
Things to do on a rainy day: 1)ride the bus 2)take Pearl along to get fresh insights!
Your knack for capturing nuance is incredible. I was waiting for you to touch his nose or tickle his ear lobe and then close your eyes :)
An excellent microcosm, Pearl.
" in a mist that mingles with the clouds."
ah
&^y
Beautiful, touching, nicely done x
A nice capture of a moment in time even if you are a little wet behind the ears.
My god yes, make the rain stop, before I have a tantrum.
That man slept on the bus and you resisted the urge to put objects in his open mouth? What kind of bus rider are you?
Well written and thought-provoking. I do confess that I'd be snoozing away too if someone else were doing the driving.
While navigating a mountain pass in a torrential downpour yesterday, I think I would have much preferred to be sitting next to a sleeping man on a bus! I loved this.
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