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The Bus Stop

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Published: 15th May 2022

Photo by Samuel Foster from Unsplash

This Poem was placed 1st in the "NO. 1263 UNPLACED" Premier Poetry Contest sponsored by Brian Strand (Judged 12th January 2024)

a bus stop with a shelter remote and standing tall surrounded by bleak countryside where no one lives at all. does anyone get off here? just who the heck gets on? where does the bus that stops here go and where does it come from?

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Suzanne Delaney

Date: 12/28/2023 5:12:00 AM

Congratulations on your top placement with this one, Gary: So many intriguing questions.I imagine in the past there was a use for it. Maybe a bust stop for county children to get to and from school. Most parents drive their kids nowadays, Happy New Year in 2024. SuZ

Gary Radice
Date: 12/28/2023 8:22:00 AM

Thank you SuZ. Happy New Year to you and your family too. I just love the mystery that surrounds such things as isolated bus stops and have driven past many in my time. Cheers - Gary

Peter Rees

Date: 1/16/2023 5:16:00 AM

I love this. It reminds me so much of bus shelters in the Hebrides, often used in inclement weather by sheep ! So well observed,Gary.

Gary Radice
Date: 1/17/2023 2:52:00 AM

Thanks Peter. I love that idea that the shelter is used by sheep. Brilliant! I'm not sure how my mind works but I'm fascinated by alienated bus stops and the like. :) Cheers - Gary

Michael Tor

Date: 9/22/2022 7:13:00 AM

Gary I like how you related everything to the Bus stop lonely all by itself, unused, followed by all your questions I really liked this a lot. When I first read the begining my thoughts wondered into thinking you were going to use like Personification in sharing the bus stops thoughts and emotions. No one vists there so he or she is lonely. The feelings of being alone and not engaging with others, etc. I love your version and the questions pose to engage the reader...

Gary Radice
Date: 9/22/2022 1:15:00 PM

Hi Michael. Thanks so much for your lovely comments! I'll take a look at your own poetry over the weekend. I appreciate your visit. Cheers - Gary

Gordon Mcconnell

Date: 7/30/2022 6:57:00 AM

Rather good pen Gary, liked it's flow and questionality way of informing the reader. Regards,Gordon

Gary Radice
Date: 7/30/2022 12:48:00 PM

Thanks Gordon. I like asking questions in my poetry. It's a device I use in an attempt to engage the reader just that little bit more - and it helps me write the poem too. :) Cheers - Gary

Connie Marcum Wong

Date: 7/21/2022 11:59:00 AM

My first thought when I saw the picture with your poem was of hail coming down and at least those waiting on the bus had protection from it. My ancestors come from a remote little town in Kansas. They raised cattle and grain. Your poem has me feeling nostalgic. Thank you Gary. I enjoyed reading this. Blessings xxoo

Gary Radice
Date: 7/21/2022 10:20:00 PM

Thanks for your valued visit and comments Connie. I've had a couple of different images of bus stops / shelters up to compliment this particular poem (there are many out there in Google Land) I settled for this particular one as I think the clouds add an air of foreboding to the proceedings. I can imagine your hail storm being just a few short seconds away. Your ancestors' home has an Aunt Em and Judy Garland feel to it before the storm Connie. :) Cheers - Gary

Christopher Flaherty

Date: 7/12/2022 1:27:00 PM

Yes yes yes Gary Absolutely love this Sir Remote

Gary Radice
Date: 7/12/2022 9:56:00 PM

Thanks Christopher. The theme of alienation has always appealed to me and often finds its way into my Poetry. Cheers - Gary

Bill Baker

Date: 7/7/2022 4:34:00 PM

Intriguing with good questions to ponder, Gary. Thanks for sharing, Bill

Gary Radice
Date: 7/8/2022 4:14:00 AM

Hi Bill. Happy to share it and so glad you read it. Cheers - Gary

William Coyne

Date: 6/7/2022 4:46:00 PM

Hope assumes many guises, sometimes bleak and stark and frail as a whisper. The Almighty thunders from the sky, and speaks to us in plain words softly in our hearts. To one dying of thirst in a desert, a drink of cool water is a feast.

Gary Radice
Date: 6/8/2022 12:45:00 AM

Many thanks for your profound words William. Cheers - Gary

Valsa George

Date: 5/29/2022 10:14:00 PM

There are some such constructions in forlorn, deserted areas where no one ever lives. God alone knows for who they are made ! The image and the description add to the eerie atmosphere. Remarkable poetry, Gary !

Gary Radice
Date: 5/29/2022 11:09:00 PM

Thank you Valsa. I can imagine a cold wind blowing too in the picture. I appreciate your visit and lovely comments Cheers - Gary

Valerie Staton

Date: 5/29/2022 3:19:00 AM

Love the format and the flow.

Gary Radice
Date: 5/29/2022 3:47:00 AM

Thanks Valerie..and I love your comments. :) Cheers - Gary

Ann Peck

Date: 5/26/2022 5:23:00 PM

A lonely bus stop is so sad. Why is that, I wonder. Is it that we're uncomfortable if no living creatures are in a picture? Are we afraid of disappearing? Good job, Gary!

Gary Radice
Date: 5/26/2022 9:13:00 PM

I think it comes down to the themes of loneliness and alienation which we can attribute to humans too. They can be very sad emotions. Just my thoughts but thanks for your thoughts that had me thinking. :) Cheers - Gary

Bryan Norton

Date: 5/22/2022 6:57:00 AM

Gary, I love this, and your subtle humour. I would love to know more about your bus stop. Isn't that funny. And your poem is so clever, matching perfectly the irony of a ghost bus stop.

Gary Radice
Date: 5/22/2022 11:54:00 AM

Thanks Bryan. :) I have to be honest and say remote bus stops fascinate me. As a side, I've noticed recently that I've started asking questions in my poems. I'm not sure if this is a conscious thing or not on my part. They just seem to suit the themes I'm writing about. :) Cheers - Gary

Timothy Ray

Date: 5/21/2022 8:00:00 PM

i used to buy a greyhound travel ticket good for many a day and saw many of these along with mailbox groupings and maybe one house what seemed for miles...great poem and love the subject, another one of those questions one might think you would see answered on the Twilight Zone....ice job Gary...

Gary Radice
Date: 5/26/2022 9:09:00 PM

Hi Timothy. Thanks do much for your comments. Greyhound travel..There's a bit of Americana that I'd like to experience one day.. I'd love to know who lives in the remote house you saw. Cheers - Gary

John Watt

Date: 5/18/2022 9:02:00 PM

I don't know which is more striking about this image - the feeling of isolation of a bus stop in the middle of nowhere, or the foreboding storm brewing in the background? In either case, your poem is equally striking in its existential ambiguity and the emphasis of bewilderment added with the italics. Enjoyed immensely, Gary.

Gary Radice
Date: 5/19/2022 8:52:00 AM

Thanks John and thank you for mentioning the italics' role too. One image I came across on Google showed a remote bus shelter that only welcomes one bus every Thursday. :) Cheers - Gary

Tom Cunningham

Date: 5/16/2022 5:56:00 AM

Have often seen them in the back of beyond and as you say a bleak landscape and not a house in sight. Maybe they are put there for a tea stop for the driver lol. Tom

Gary Radice
Date: 5/16/2022 6:07:00 AM

Lol! Love that idea Tom. :) Thinking on - as well - I'd hate to get a flat tyre driving a bus out there. :) Thanks for the visit. Cheers - Gary

Deb M

Date: 5/15/2022 4:55:00 PM

Awww thanks Gary! Love it! Different picture?? Debx

Gary Radice
Date: 5/16/2022 1:39:00 AM

Hi Deb - I've changed the picture back to the original but I'm thinking about changing the image regularly for this poem as there are some great 'lonely bus stop' photos out there :) Thanks and Cheers - Gary

L Milton Hankins

Date: 5/15/2022 1:26:00 PM

And well worth it, Gary. The starkness of this poem and the accompanying picture certainly raises the questions. I enjoyed it immensely. Marking it a FAVE.

Gary Radice
Date: 5/16/2022 1:45:00 AM

Thank you Milt. I love exploring the themes of remoteness and alienation in my poetry although I'm sure if I found myself somewhere remote and alienated as pictured I'd probably be the one guy waiting at the bus stop for the next bus back to civilisation. :) Cheers - Gary