The Princess on the Bus

Gold cherry

By lloydj4

Sat, 30 Aug 2014
  • 1855 reads
7 comments
 

She was the last to board

the number forty,

London to Bristol,

eighteen hundred hours,

floating down the aisle,

golden tresses done up in daisies,

diaphanous dress, sleeves puffed out

like two freshly-filled choux buns.

 

You don’t expect to see a princess

on the number forty.

 

But there she was -

the heroine of a tale that’s still to be told,

voyaging to the west

on some unknown quest,

fleeing from enemies, murder, treason,

to open-armed lovers, princes,

honey-haired lotharios,

silver-tongued sorcerers.

 

She was the last to board

the number forty,

and she’ll be the first to leave,

but as the motorway rumbles on

and the night spreads its infinite ink,

we’re all suspended,

silently suspended,

between the here and the there.

 

We all need ways to pass the time,

so as the seconds crystallise

into dream-drenched days,

the princess shuts her eyes

and sucks on a mint,

lulled by the hum of the engine

and the sodium streetlights

that shimmer like fairy dust

through thin, ashen curtains.

Certificate U
Poem
Travel
Fantasy

Comments

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

I do like encounters and considering others on buses, this is beautiful.

Submitted by lloydj4 on

Thanks for the kind comment, Philip. I agree... public transport is always good for a bit of people watching.

 

Submitted by scratch on

Oh yes.  Very good.  First thing is that the thing is so self-assured (in a good way) as to be transporting and then there is the figurative, poetic language and phraseology that's dips into the humourous.  Very good Lloydj4.

ps Philip, I haven't forgotten my offer to you of three weeks back.  I have been on holiday.  Please email me and I will get on to it.  I have ha a furious email cull and yours went with others that ought not to have gone!

 

Submitted by torscot on

"...You don’t expect to see a princess on the number forty..."

Of course you do, I see lots of them on the Megabus, mind you it could have been a number 13.

Regards

torscot

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

This is a lovely poem to back to - it's our facebook and twitter pick of the day, do share if you like it too!

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

How lovely this is - I don't remember it first time round, so thank you for picking it Phil - well done!

 

Submitted by celticman on

yep, I'm with you Phil, missed this bus but glad to get back on board.