Riding the School
Bus
At pick-up
in the morning when frost was on the ground,
The bus
could be heard before arriving, by its distinctive sound,
It was a
chugging, rumbling noise reminiscent of a train,
Especially
uncomfortable to wait for in the pouring rain,
If we slept
a few minutes late, we’d miss our exciting ride,
What a
relief to be there as the folding doors opened wide,
It was warm,
almost hot, when we boarded and chose our seat,
The heat
came pouring out relentlessly at our tiny feet,
The big red
stop sign was faithfully displayed,
Then with everyone
seated, we would be on our routed way,
Grinding
gears and jerky shifting made for a rough go,
The driver
watched us diligently in his large mirror, even so,
A strong
smell of exhaust hung heavy in the air,
The trip was
bumpy, the bench seats lumpy, but we did not care,
Hours
passed, the final bell rang, and now our school day was done,
We passed by
the carpool line, in the bright and blinding sun,
Back to the
bus, in a hurry, hurry, hurry,
Always
parked in the same spot, so really not to worry,
Once again it
was hot on our bumpy afternoon ride,
With no air-conditioning while sitting compactly, side by side,
Chewed bubblegum
was stuck underneath the vinyl seat,
“Not so loud,
keep your voices down!” the driver would repeat,
“Don’t stand
up until the bus comes to a complete stop”,
We held on tightly
to our lunchboxes so they would not drop,
Stop and go,
stop and go, we arrived safely at our destination,
Until the
next time, we would wait with great anticipation.
The thrill
of riding the big yellow bus was a kindergartener dream,
As we
stepped off to meet our Mom, our smiling faces would beam.
Tammy Harvey
Written: June 7, 2017
😄😄😄😄😄😄😄
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