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The Bus Stop

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Originally published: 2021

Republished: 15th May 2022

Image by Ace Shelters

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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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