Whatever happened to unobstructed views?
Who decided it was a good idea to slap advertisements on bus windows?
Will it ever stop raining?
As the #1 bus trundled down 6th Avenue
on a soakingly grim Sunday,
passengers were few,
the air was thick with moist, shared breath,
and I had questions . . .
questions that were abruptly interrupted
when the bus lurched to a stop
at 6th and Stevens.
The doors swung open, and our driver announced
that there was a vivid double-rainbow
hanging just behind us.
We should all hop off to take a look, he said.
And so it was that an improbable Holy Trinity gathered that day:
a silver-crowned crone, a testy teen with a nose ring of gold,
and our mild-mannered driver ~
transformed for an instant into our High Priest of Awe ~
all standing next to the #1 bus on 6th Avenue,
savoring the unexpected,
the fleeting hues of mystery,
the arcing brilliance of colors split . . .
before they dissolved back into the drear
and the bus ride continued
on a Sunday that was no longer grim.
