The Man I Never Met on the Bus

I saw you on the bus yesterday.

The first thing I saw was your leather jacket

The one with the orange patch

Your hair was golden brown

And its waves fell down to your shoulder

You pulled out a book 

And I see the small scribble of a tattoo on your right hand

As hard as I tried I couldn't see exactly what you were reading

I imagine it was something done by Faulkner, Twain, or Hemingway

I imagine you listen to jazz and drink black coffee

You play the banjo and guitar

You order scotch on the rocks

Every f*****g time

You write poetry for your friends sometimes

And You claim its terrible

And your friends claim it brilliant

You would write me some,

and I would recite it when we fight

You would take pictures of me when I wake up in the morning

with nothing but your shirt on

You would take them to the dark room

and hide them in your drawer

You would laugh at me when I put on your big black glasses

and I at you when you would tell me bad jokes

You would drag me with you

to see all of your favorite shows

And I would joke like you actually had to drag me

I would drag you shopping

but you never minded as long as it was a thrift store

Our apartment would be small

Because neither of us cared too much about being wealthy

We would follow our dreams

I would paint

and tell people how they are feeling

And you would play music

and sing

and write

and tell me how I am feeling

We would be rich 

with love

The love girls pray for every night 

before they go to sleep

See, we would wake up every day with that feeling

like the one you get when your crush in high school says hello in the hall

We wold be mad for each other

But I don't even know you

There on the bus

I watched you, a stranger, walk on

and walk off

In this amount of time

I have constructed

a whole new path of life

A path I might have taken

if I would have picked up my bag

sit two seats closer

If I wasn't so nervous of what you may think of me

and asked you about your book

Do you like it?

What is your name?

If I were to have asked you out for coffee

Life today would be different

I would be saying your name over and over in my head

I would have started the book you are reading

Maybe I would be texting you

right now

Instead of writing a poem

Maybe I would be writing about the man I met on the bus

not the man I never met

Maybe you would break my heart one day

But we may never know now

Maybe I will see you again

Maybe then I will ask for your name

or the book you were reading in February

But this city is a big City

And there might not be such a thing called fate

And so I will miss you

And your scribble tattoo

And the path I was too scared to take.

Author's Note

Ignore grammar, free verse

Reviews

[M.E.Lyle]

Life, it's a crazy thing. We never know what we might be missing because of fear.
Even with the grammar, this was wonderful.