Loved reading this poem by Denver Buston about three people waiting to board a bus - specially how it ends:
It takes the three some time
to board the bus
what with the flames
and water and ice
But when they finally climb the stairs
and take their seats
the driver doesn't even notice
that none of them has paid
because he is tortured
by visions and is wondering
if the man who got off at the last stop
was really being mauled to death
by wild dogs.
I have no idea what the poet had in mind when he wrote this. To me it was about watching a fellow human in a crisis they are oblivious to. And yet, being constrained by our circumstances so badly that we cannot act, certainly not on time.
I was thinking of a young lady I know who exhibited all signs of being in a relationship where the man was indifferent to her at every level. I watched her overextend and over-invest herself for the longest time and yet said nothing. I felt lack of confidence and proper standing in advising another woman on relationship issues - and that it was not my place.
When the end came, it was cold, brutal and sudden. She remained in a dazed state for long time, hardened her soul and emerged another person a year later. One of us could have been the person on fire and the other the drowning in water. In this story, I am not sure who would play the role of the frozen over passenger and the nonchalant bus-driver.
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