Day 26 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2018

Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: "write a poem that includes images that engage all five senses. Try to be as concrete and exact as possible with the 'feel' of what the poem invites the reader to see, smell, touch, taste and hear." Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day prompt: "write a relationship poem. Of course, there are human relationships, but there are also plant-animal relationships, animal-animal relationships, and even mathematical relationships. Good, bad, healthy, and not-so-much." Melding both prompts today. Always fun. My fellow San Francisco natives will enjoy this story, I think. Free Ride My relationship with The City — my hometown, San Francisco — was gray and dark, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s a good, wonderful thing: thick fog. As a kid, waiting for a bus, in the early morning fog, to go to school, I would see the 6 Masonic appear magically out of what was essentially a deep, soft cloud resting on the ground. The bus would shoulder its way through the misty gray like a green and yellow Triceratops, the loud hiss of its air brakes, a breathy sound, punctuating its mystical approach. The slight ozone scent of the trolleys arcing above would counterpoint the salty taste of the cool air, wafting through the city from Ocean Beach, the Pacific. In my small hand, I could feel the crisp cardboard Muni punch card, and the driver, rather than punching out one of the 10 rides, would click the air above my hand and card: a free trip. That driver smiled huge every morning, glad to be giving a schoolboy a boost, a treat, a lovely memory. I bet that driver is driving a Muni bus up in heaven today! —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] The 1960s-era San Francisco Muni trolleybus pictured there is actually a 6 Masonic, same bus line I took to school every morning in grade school. Source: barraclou.com Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. To comment, look for a red line below that starts Posted by, then click once on the word comments in that line. If you don’t find the word “comments” in that line, then look for a blue link below that says Post a comment and click it once. Thanks! Ingat, everyone.  ヅ

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