Long Seattle Poems
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the Bus – Travels Through America’s Underbelly
I am a bus rider
That makes me unusual
For a white male
From an upper middle class family
Our people are not bus riders
Though some are subway riders
Bus riders are other people
The poor, minorities, immigrants
People who don’t drive
Because they are blind
Or have a DUI
And in my case
I don’t drive
Because I have bad vision
And bad coordination
Just never got the hang
Of the whole driving thing
Fortunately for me
My wife does the driving
But I still take the bus
From time to time
I rode the AC buses in Berkeley
As a child
Line 67, line 51, line 43 F bus
Rode them long before BART came along
And afterwards as well
As an adult seldom rode the bus
But when I did so
I was always impressed
By the sheer diversity
Of the bus riding property
Hundreds of languages
All sorts of sexual orientation
Some were white
Most were not
Most of my fellow passengers
Were nice enough
Some were friendly
And some were lost
In their own thoughts
And a few
Were scary looking dudes
With the look
Of someone who had done time
And were capable of more violence
I also rode the bus
In Seattle as a graduate student
A lot of fellow UW students
And the usual immigrants
Minorities etc
And some white people
Commuting
And in DC
Over the years
I rode a lot of buses
Mostly to and from the metro
But I got to know
And love the DC buses as well
I also took the greyhound bus
Across the country
Several times over the years
All over the U.S.
From Bay Area to Stockton
From Bay Area to Clear Lake
From Bay area to NYC
NYC to DC
All over the USA
Taking the Greyhound
Was always an an adventure
Met a lot of interesting people
As people on long distant bus rides
Tend to open up and talk
To pass the time away
Overseas I took the bus
All over
In India, in Barbados
In Spain and in Korea
The Korean buses
For many years
Were difficult for foreign visitors
As the signs were all in Korean
Most have signs
Now in English, Chinese and Korean
And are much more foreigner friendly
Riding the bus
In America
Allows one access
To the underbelly of American society
The poor, the marginalized
The immigrant communities
That many middle-class white people
Just never see
And for that reason
I am glad
That I am a bus rider
11/4/1991, KENOSHA, WI – Police say a man wearing a fake goatee burst into a restaurant and assaulted a customer. The victim asked, “Why are you wearing a fake goatee?” Police say the attacker answered, “It’s not a goatee, it’s a van dyke,” then punched him in the nose and fled.
12/9/1996, IMPERIAL BEACH, CA – Police say a man in a Buster Keeton mask burst into a restaurant and assaulted a customer. The victim asked, “Why are you wearing a Buster Keeton mask?” Police say the attacker answered, “It’s not Buster Keeton. It’s Buster Crabbe,” then punched him in the nose and fled.
6/26/1998, ODESSA, Texas – Police say a man affecting a Spanish accent burst into a restaurant and assaulted a customer. The victim asked, “Why are you affecting a Spanish accent?” Police say the attacker answered, “It’s not Spanish. It’s Catalan,” then punched him in the nose and fled.
11/25/2006, SHREVEPORT, LA – Police say a man wearing a Mitt Romney campaign button burst into a restaurant and assaulted a customer. The victim asked, “Why are you wearing a Mitt Romney campaign button?” Police say the attacker answered, “It’s not a campaign button. It’s flair,” then punched him in the nose and fled.
3/6/2007, SEATTLE, WA – Police say a man wearing a satin vest burst into a restaurant and assaulted a customer. The victim asked, “Why are you wearing a satin vest?” Police say the attacker answered, “It’s not satin. It’s velour,” then punched him in the nose and fled.
2/12/2008, VIENNA, MO – Police say a person dressed in a nun’s habit burst into a restaurant and assaulted a customer. The victim asked, “Why are you dressed in a nun’s habit?” Police say the attacker answered, “It’s not a habit. It’s a vocation,” then punched him in the nose and fled.
6/18/2009, MARLTON, NJ – Police say a person riding a scooter chair burst into a restaurant and assaulted a customer. The victim asked, “Why are you riding a scooter chair?” Police say the attacker answered, “It’s not a scooter chair. It’s a civil right,” then punched him in the nose and fled.
3/27/2010, KING of PRUSSIA, PA – Police say a person holding a bottle of urine burst into a restaurant and assaulted a customer. The victim asked, “Why are you holding a bottle of urine?” Police say the attacker answered, “It’s not urine. It’s mine,” then punched him in the nose and fled.
(do enjoy frolicking gently imaginatively)
County seat, of Mason County,
Washington, United States
westernmost city on Puget Sound
above ground sans tectonic plates
population 9,834 per 2010 census
end result from biological mates
maintains commission form
of government drafted by mandates.
Shelton served by small steamboats
comprising Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet
Old Settler, Irene, Willie, City of Shelton,
Marian, Clara Brown, & S.G. Simpson
logging, farming, dairying, ranching
& oyster cultivation for populace to eat
Simpson Timber Company mill
on Puget Sound's Oakland Bay over yon
dominates landscape of the down
town area as essential heart beat
Shelton identifies the "Christmas
Tree Capital" sold by the ton.
47°12'49?N 123°6'22?W (47.213702,
-123.106088) coordinate bench mark
total area of 5.9 square miles (15 km2),
of which 5.6 square miles (15 km2) land
0.3 square miles (0.78 km2) (5.60%)
water laps with an occasional errant shark
in a pinch captured, processed and canned
a delicacy that fin de siecle bony
illegal booty fined by the oceanic narc.
well nigh two and a half decades in the past
this poet trekked across America
beginning in a place called Gap
Pennsylvania - where stockpile
of Amish goodies barely did last
and vanished in a gingerly snap
of fingers, which necessitated
sustenance when van fueled i.e. gassed
up while myself or the other
driver stole a short nap
seduced to sleep by syncopated tires
as highway miles passed
inching closer to youngest sister
via this linear transcontinental lap
destination Seattle Washington
indigenous iconic statue cast.
Ronald Strickland a fine companion
(posted bulletin for traveling fine companion
at Hostelling International - Chamounix Falls Mansion
West Fairmount Park),
and boone story teller to boot
about my age (now five decades plus nine)
then trying to rake in some loot
by writing about his travels,
yet unpretentious and not able
to square an Apple pi circle
nor, calculate square a root
perhaps one day, I will surprise him
with a call and give him a toot.
While working in Seattle for Boeing
Had duty in Florida for six weeks
Just before it was time to be going
Drove from town to town looking at antiques
In St. Augustine, day before my flight
I was sightseeing the old city’s charm
The alligator show was quite a sight
Bought a gator, right off the farm
In Florida when I boarded the plane
Although winter, the temperature was warm
A Chicago plane change, was not the same
In fact, had to land in a winter storm
The alligator was in a shoe box
And I carried it with me on the plane
The temp in Chicago was such a shock
Scratching loud and fast; must have been in pain
He warmed up during the layover time
Then it came time to board another plane
People stared while in the plane’s boarding line
Because the loud scratching noise was the same
When I sat down, the guy next to me said:
“What in the hell do you have in that box?”
An alligator that wants to be feed!
“Sure you do! But don’t feed me to the crock”
“You don’t believe there’s a Gator in there?”
“Of course not! I just think you’re full of bull”
“OK, stick in your finger if you dare
But when he grabs it, you better not pull”
“Tell you what, if you’ll buy me a drink
I’ll take box lid off so you can see”
We’ve got us a deal, he said with a wink
I’ll be right back but, first I got to pee
He returned, bought my drink, set down and said
Now get out your box and take off the lid
Then the gator jumped out, bit me and fled
And ****, we couldn’t see where he hid
He was in the center isle on the move
When I grabbed him, I got bit one more time
If the stewardess saw him, I’d be removed
And I’d probably be charged with a crime
So back in my seat, with a bleeding hand
And with the gator secure and confined
The guy next to me said, “That act was grand,
So what’s next”, as he made his seat recline
We had a good laugh, I wrapped up my hand
And from then on we took turns buying drinks
We didn’t stop, we got totally canned
“What happens now with the gator you think?”
“This trip, he stays in his box! Believe me!
There will never be another capture,
As a house pet he will roam free, in the
Bellevue Home For Beer Drinking Bachelors”
this paean to the place name sans title of poem actually mooch oh years decades? ago, when my youngest sister began her decades long residence along the Pacific Northwest.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
county seat, of Mason County, Washington, United States
westernmost city on Puget Sound above ground sans tectonic plates
population 9,834 per 2010 census end result from biological mates
maintains commission form of government drafted by mandates.
Shelton served by small steamboats comprising Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet
Old Settler, Irene, Willie, City of Shelton, Marian, Clara Brown, & S.G. Simpson
logging, farming, dairying, ranching & oyster cultivation for populace to eat
Simpson Timber Company mill on Puget Sound's Oakland Bay over yon
dominates landscape of the downtown area as essential heart beat
Shelton identifies the "Christmas Tree Capital" sold by the ton.
47°12'49?N 123°6'22?W (47.213702, -123.106088)
coordinates bench mark
total area of 5.9 square miles (15 km2),
of which 5.6 square miles (15 km2) land
0.3 square miles (0.78 km2) (5.60%) water laps
with an occasional errant shark
in a pinch captured, processed and canned
a delicacy that fin de siecle bony illegal booty
fined by the oceanic narc.
well nigh two decades in the past
this poet trekked across America beginning in a place called gap
pennsylvania - where stockpile of Amish goodies barely did last
and vanished in a gingerly snap
of fingers, which necessitated sustenance when van fueled i.e. gassed
up while myself or the other driver stole a short nap
seduced to sleep by syncopated tires as highway miles passed
inching closer to youngest sister via this linear transcontinental lap
destination Seattle Washington indigenous iconic statue cast.
Ronald Strickland a fine companion and boone story teller to boot
about my age (five decades plus two) then trying to rake in some loot
by writing about his travels, yet unpretentious and no square at root
perhaps one day, I will surprise him with a call and give him a toot.
It was a train
that took my mother west
away from her family farm
to seek adventure. She found work in San Diego,
joined the Navy and met my dad.
It was the 1950’s.
Planes were not yet a big deal
and many traveled long distances
by train.
It was a train
that carried my mom away
from a husband impossible to live with.
The year was 1960. For traveling far,
the train was the poor man’s choice.
Trains and buses were plentiful
when my mom brought her 4 young girls
back to her parents’ farm
to then start over.
It was a train
that my father purchased two tickets for
so that my sister and I could visit with him
out west where he lived near Seattle.
The year was 1969.
On a black and white TV, with my dad,
we watched astronauts walking on the moon.
It was a time of social unrest, and technology would soon
be soaring past the moon!
It was a train
that brought my sister and I home
from the lovely visit with our dad.
I recall having to walk past a troop of flirty boy scouts
that occupied one of the train’s cars
each time my sister and I made our way to the dining car.
We watched mountains turn into cornfields
as the train carried us back toward the Mississippi.
A most memorable experience it was.
It was a train
that brought me only a few other times after that
to visit my dad out west or my mother in Iowa
as I traveled with a spouse and two sometimes-wailing kids.
Like a train, my life kept moving.
After 1984, I’d use the train no more.
Trains had become nostalgic ways to travel -
used more by people with the luxury of time,
people who enjoyed eating meals as
scenery sped past them outside their windows.
It’s the plane
that modern rushed humanity today are using.
Buses are low-class and cars are for road trips.
Trains, though still running, are not much heard of.
It’s not so easy to find
a very accommodating route by train.
My life has flown by like a plane,
but if it should ever slow down,
I think I’d like to take again – a train!
Oct. 27, 2021
For the Railroads, A Historical Glance Back Poetry Contest
Sponsor: BJ Legros Kelley
When we planned our road trip we set up with Budget
that a Toyota Corolla would be waiting for us in Seattle
but after standing in line for 2 hours…I was a little rattled
When Budget ran out of cars and sent me to Avis…at their counter I was told…
“We don’t have your Toyota Corolla…but we can give you a new Kia Soul.”
Our Kia had 6 miles on it when we began our trip…
and as with any relationship we tried to take it slow…
while we navigated the Seattle freeways at night…we told her all the places she would go.
And she was such a good sport…wherever we went she gave it her best .
driving all around Seattle, Olympic national park and through the rains in the Northwest.
She took us all the way to the sun in glacier…she made this trip with ease
She drove right by a grizzly bear on our way to Lake Louise.
Through the dusty plains of Canada she waited patiently as we packed, unpacked and packed
and did not flinch in Montana when a pebble caused her windshield to crack.
We thought about substituting her because of that cracked windshield
but Deborah made the case
that in the 2000 miles we’d already driven….we’d grown accustomed to her face.
Besides, we figured at this point we had nothing to lose and everything to gain….
So on she drove us with her cracked windshield to Canada
then into Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
In Maine, like us, she rested for a few days…
and I could fulfill a promise I’m sure she had come to doubt
that I would take the time to clean her…all of her…inside and out.
We got her when she was just a baby
I’m glad we decided to keep her in spite of her little crack…
and when we returned her to Budget in Bangor
she had more 6800 miles on her back.
It’s funny that Corolla we thought we were going to drive…
on this trip never played a part
But we were happy with our substitute…the Kia Soul with heart.
In 48 days she grew a little older, she’s not as aligned as she once was
and she’s developed a few scars everyone can see…
Perhaps that’s why we love her so much…
because she’s a lot like Deborah and me.
You’ll never know but you’re all I can think about.
You’ll never know but I love you with all my heart.
You’ll never know that the safest place in the world is in your arms.
You’ll never know that just hearing from you makes my day.
You’ll never know how warm your smile makes me feel
You’ll never know how much I really enjoy seeing you.
You’ll never know because I can’t bring myself to tell you.
I shouldn’t be in love with you.
But here I am, longing to be with you. How do I tell you without driving you away?
You’re my best friend, my confidant, my rock. There’s never a day I’m not grateful for having you in my life.
You know I love you
You know I appreciate you with all my heart
You know I care about you deeply
You know there’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do for you
I’ll never say anything because you don’t love me that way and I respect that
But I’ll always be your best friend
I’ll always be by your side
Even if it means watching you love someone else
Even if it means hearing all about her
How your eyes light up when you talk about her
How you smile any time she gets brought up
How happy she makes you
I’d rather be completely heartbroken than see you unhappy
You deserve all the happiness in the world
Maybe one day I’ll move on but today is not that day
No matter what, I’ll always love you
And when you move away, you’ll still be on my mind
I can’t expect you to stay here forever.
We both know this town is just a stepping stone for both of us
You want Chicago, D.C., New York, Seattle
I want Houston, Dallas, Orlando, Myrtle Beach
You want at least one PhD
I want to get my bachelor’s and be done
You want kids, someone to make a legacy with
I can’t have kids, nor do I want them
Your True Color is green, mine is blue
Your Love Language is words of affection, mine is physical touch
We’ve always been opposites and we butt heads sometimes
But it makes us who we are, best friends through the best and worst times of our lives
Through thick and thin, to hell and back
I love you, forever and always
the year that was
January
The world watches in amazement
Longest shut down in history
Watching it all in Korea
contemplating escaping the cold winter
February
World watches as North Korea and the US
Walking back from the brink of war
escaping the cold winter blues
revisiting Vietnam after 15 years
March
The chaos president continues his chaos tour
the world begins to ignore his constant insane tweets
heading back to DC inspecting property
seeing old friends glad I retired
April
the chaos King’s policy remains a shamble
as the Mueller team closes in
in Korea I write a poem a day
and begin to become a publish writer
May
watching from afar
the chaos in DC and the world
traveling to DC to inspect property
celebrating my wife’s big 60
June
the President walks away
from a non deal with the North Koreans
I am back in DC
end up cruising to Alaska
July
watching the insanity in DC
while visiting Alaska, Seattle and Yakima
visiting my father’s grave in Yakima
communing with family ghosts
August
the dog days of summer the world is consumed
wars, rumors of war, trade wars
retuning to Korea
surviving the August sauna like summer
September
The whistle blower sets off a bomb
the president lies no quid for quo perfect all
trying to avoid watching the news
hiking in the Korean mountains with old friends
October
the President flitters about my crisis after another
the UN diplomats laugh at him national humiliation
returning to DC yet again more property blues
celebrating my 64th year orbiting the sun
November
the House starts formal impeachment hearings
watching fascinated by the impeachment drama
entering my third NoVoWrMo competition with Timeless Love
ending the month sudden surprise trip to Okinawa
December
the year ends on a high dramatic
President Trump becomes the 3rd impeached President
hiking enjoying the late autumn like weather
contemplating my wealth at the end of the year
in 2040 in a small town in
near Seattle.
A Group of college students
on a class assignment found
a briefcase with the words
"GODSENT" on the front.
they pried open the case and found
documents addressed to " Fittall Morris"
from the governments of Mongolia and Cuba.
The documents illustrated how these governments
paid researchers to create a disease that would
create panic throughout the world.
The documents were dated July 9 2001.
Other documents found in the briefcase
illustrated the success of creating an
upper respiratory virus, and injecting it
into wild animals throughout the world.
One document was dated November 3, 2019.
It detailed the use of a pig bladder filled with water
thrown into a fire and the steam releasing the virus.
the other spoke of injecting swine and cattle
before feast and festivals
so that the handlers of these animals
would carry the virus to
the people they contacted.
These students most medical student
took these documents serious, they
handed them over to a Professor at the College
( which must remain Nameless, for Security concerns)
the facts of this incident bought the professor to believe
that someone used a time traveling devise to
bring the document there for some unknown reason.
The condition of the briefcase looked new, it smelled new,
but the materials it was made from would not
register when carbon dated tested. The paper
that the documents were on were not of wood fiber, or plastic, but
a fiberey material unknown to that time.
some of the instructions within the briefcase
were made giving instruction
of building a shelter that would house a remedy
within the walls.
it detailed the motion devise that would
administer the vaccine for cure and remedy.
but it didn't say why humans shouldn't handle the vaccine.
it only spoke of the science of medicine.
that the cure would most likely be derived from the virus, and it would
communicate either from defeat or overpowering the host.