Personal Choice 80

My Busconductor

My busconductor tells me

he only has one kidney

and that may soon go on strike

through overwork.

Each bus ticket

takes on now a different shape

and texture.

He holds a ninepenny single

as if it were a rose

and puts the shilling in his bag

as a child into a gasmeter.

His thin lips

have no quips

for fat factory girls

and he ignores

the drunk who snores

and the old man who talks to himself

and gets off at the wrong stop.

He goes gently to the bedroom

of the bus

to collect

and watch familiar shops and pubs passby

(perhaps for the last time?)

The same old streets look different now

more distinct

as through new glasses.

And the sky

was it ever so blue?

And all the time

Deep down in the deserted bus shelter of his

mind

he thinks about his journey nearly done.

One day he’ll clock on and never clock off

or clock off and never clock on.

Roger McGough

Roger McGough (1937 - ) is an English poet, performance poet, broadcaster, children's author and playwright. He presents the BBC Radio 4 programme Poetry Please, as well as performing his own poetry. McGough was one of the leading members of the Liverpool poets, a group of young poets influenced by Beat poetry and the popular music and culture of 1960s Liverpool.

A wonderful piece after my own poetic heart to celebrate ordinary human lives and imbue them with dignity and a touch of the divine.