The other day I ended up in a crowded city bus,
Huddled with you between an elephantine lady and a pinguid man.
We were so close together that I could catch a whiff of coffee in your breath,
And smell your coconut shampoo.
Your sleepy eyes watched the moving
Pictures in the window frame,
Shops and people in an endless row,
And now and then, a homeless dog.
My hopes were certainly absurd:
That the bus would abruptly halt
And your denim hips
Would bump into me
Or better yet, that the bus would crash into a Coca-Cola truck
And you would tumble over me
Breaking my spine, my neck, my heart.
Alas, all that happened was the next bus stop
Where you elbowed your way out
(My ribs still ache)
And descended without looking back
Vanishing into a ghostly crowd…
So close together and yet so far apart!
boy with a hat 
Well, crashing into a coca cola truck may have some other interesting consequences! 🙂
I will have to look up the word “pinquid”.
It’s pinguid!
Good writing Young Man. I appreciate how you paint a picture so nonchalantly.
I moved to a big city recently and can appreciate this so much. Your words paint a wonderful & realistic picture.
Ah, the ones that get away!
Pinguid. I too had to look it up. An interesting word that I’ve never come across before & ironic that you, a non-native English speaker, should be the one to introduce us to it 😉 Really lovely poem. Nice slice of life with the crowded bus, being alone in a crowd & the bitter-sweet contrast of your slightly amusing yet touching romantic dreams with (literally) painful reality. I hope one day you collect your poems together & publish 🙂
I think we should call them almost-poems, Pam. I actually have a compilation of the better ones on my computer and plan to publish it in the near future, at least digitally.
I heard this song on the radio the other day, and it made me cry.
nice write up. so close yet far
Love this:
“That the bus would abruptly halt
And your denim hips
Would bump into me
Or better yet, that the bus would crash into a Coca-Cola truck
And you would tumble over me
Breaking my spine, my neck, my heart.”
Just beautiful, Vincent!
Living in a very large city like Chicago, I can completely relate! Sometimes I think here the breath smells rather like coconut, and the hair adorned with whiffs of coffee. Ah, but I digress! Love your post, my dear! Hugs, Cher xo
Yet another one of your sensual and playful masterpieces 🙂
PS I think that they hadn’t invented denim jeans when London buses and cars looked like that 😉
maybe it’s because i’m one of those angry young men that isn’t an ‘angry young man’ but this moment you describe holds infinite depth to me. you captured it well, i liked the first half especially!