old russian lady
the old russian lady
is back on the bus
she is shouting into her cell phone
i’ve heard this voice
three days this week
twice in the evening
and once in the morning
but i didn’t have a face
to go with it until now
i’m generally bad with faces
something about a natural aversion
to humanity
but there she is on the evening bus
she sounds like a spy
a loud spy
she is sitting right in front of me
shouting “dah, dah!”
every third or fourth beat
in her conversation
it is no use to read
or to listen to music
lightly i touch her shoulder
when she turns around i see her
black sunglasses
black hair pulled back into a bun
i smile and tell her that we are all doomed
if we keep it up this way
i tell her that i think that
we are getting very close to the end
the russian lady frowns
she gives me the once over
turns around
and goes back to her conversation
“dah, dah,” she says
to the faceless voice on the other end
and i have no choice but to sit there
listen to the old russian lady talk
or watch 75th street
glitter in the gloam
think about how much i miss the cold war
I knew you could not do it.. post a bad poem.. See, you write what you live and unless you try to put an Emily D. twist on it, it's fail-proof..
ReplyDeletebetter luck on the next "bad" one"..lol
have you ever submitted to Tree Killer Ink?
Lynne...yes, but i have to live it and that is the issue! Ha! I suppose it could be much much worse.
ReplyDeleteI have not submitted to Tree Killer Ink. Worth It? a lot of the places i submit to are closing shop, and the new ones are saying no.
yes.. worth it.. check out the link on my post today.. They are one of the Top publishers(not an ezine, a real live paper magazine..lol). As long as you don't mind the word fuck and the middle finger as a logo, you are just what they need.
ReplyDeletetell wolfgang I sent you...
think about how much i miss the cold war
ReplyDeleteThat's classic! What a great ending to this poem. I'm not stuck with in on a bus or anything like that, but my MIL is Japanese, when they speak in Japanese on the phone the person listening grunts to show they are listening and that they get what is being said. I can't figure out how to spell the grunt sound they make...crap!