Day 18: Nomad

NovPAD 2024

The bus to anywhere

I know you, man:
Your hat claiming all
the space, your bulk, 
your boots, the scent 
of land clinging to denim 
sprawled across two seats 
on the bus to anywhere 
but here. Been there. 
I can’t tell you
it will be any better 
where you’re going. But 
I wish you all the things
I couldn’t wish for myself
when I curved into 
the back of that same bus 
with nothing but a spare 
pair of socks 
and a toothbrush. 
This bus, man, 
it does not represent Hope. 
It is Hope. And you - 
You take it all the way
down the line. 

From Transit, an artistic collaboration with photographer Tom Darin Liskey