at the bus station

american rom-com me,

and a badge that reads 'ellie'.

with an unkempt style

and a timid smile,

i found my soulmate

at the bus station.

as the people pushed past,

i brushed against you.

energy palpable,

like elation..

you got off at my stop,

and we awkwardly shared a glance

then you told me your life story

(the same as mine)

we ended up holding hands.

i avoid confrontation,

my eyes danced up and around the

coloured advertisements

i'd already read.

after all,

i prefer to keep romance

in my head.

you had dark, dark hair

that curled around your temples.

a teasing stare.

made room for me,

on the crowded bus seats

and i fall hard for a gentleman.

(if you work in a coffee shop

and you're a vegetarian.)

but you got off outside the council flats,

jogging in the cold december sun

you could have been anyone.

Reviews

[Leaner Pastures]

"I prefer to keep romance
in my head."

Just delightful.

[Emily B]

this is wonderful, I should have got to it sooner . . . kortas always sends the best read requests :)

[Ms. Gruye]

hmmm: i enjoyed your tone (abandonment there of) in this piece, but I wonder if this might benefit from being a little more obscure in detail, dark, dark curly hair curled at temples, teasing stare, barista boy seems very specific for a narrator who is rom-comming about anyone with a y chromosome.

Viva la

[Ed Hart]

you have a talent for stating very well how life is just out of reach...

[W.k.kortas]

Reminds me, at least a bit, of the old The Sundays song "My Finest Hour"--it has that feeling of a mix of longing and inability to act on that longing (cf. "i prefer to keep romance/in my head.") The imagery is wonderful and descriptive, yet the whole tone of the piece is muted, understated--which, in my opinion, is exactly the tack to take here. Fine, fine piece of writing.