Yesterday, on the way to work,
I heard that around 10:30a.m. a bus-sized
asteroid would pass by the earth.
36,750 miles out and heavy on the gas pedal.
I phoned work immediately and told them I was sick.
The flu, I told them…more like One Flew Over…
I ended up at the center of town under a bus shelter.
It was the mainline transfer station.
I pulled out two quarters stuck together with gum
which escaped from its wrapper in my pocket.
There were others cramped in the queue
probably looking like an overstuffed “Pope-mobile”.
A few conversations bounced off the Plexiglas
as a smoker on the outside of it rocked back and forth,
arms crossed, trying to warm himself.
It was 10:15 and the cold aluminum
didn’t erase a warm Spock smile off my face.
I was thrilled that I didn’t have to hitch-hike
through the galaxy and wondered if the fare was 42cents.
Maybe Ms. Frizzle would be at the wheel
with a magical grin and dimple.
Would the bus look like that huge brown cone-looking
thing from a Star-Trek episode I saw years ago?
That space dirt clod with a mouth on one end would
pull in planets and swallow them like malted milk balls.
The Starship Enterprise was no match, even if Scotty
“Jerry-rigged” the crap out of the force field.
Would there be aliens from outer-space heading for outer-space
irritated that yet another stop, “Earth”, would slow down
an already, quite less than light speed journey?
I can just hear the alien’s squeaky complaints translated:
“Are we there yet!? I don’t have to use the space waste bowl!
I went in the debris of the Saturn ring just twenty years ago! Sheesh!”
A lot of politicians are yelling “To the moon, Alice!”
Such small vision they have I thought as I sat
flat-bottomed, clicking my toes together to see if they were numb.
Which galatical line was passing through anyhow?
The Milky Way?
The Andromeda?
The North Star Lines?
Was it heading for the Eye of God
like C. S. Lewis’ Great Divorce bus trip?
I looked up as if looking through the satellite skies
of Mark Heard and saw some hope.
The great expanses freckled with dots of light
always intrigued me and I was excited
take a greater leap beyond mankind.
Oh, it will be great.
I will sit and watch the universe pass by
while Ms. Frizzle drives on and on.
I will take in the heavens and think of poor old David
having to simply write about it in Psalm 19.
This is reformatted in poetic form for dVerse poets pub open link.
Gerald the Writer 
I heard that around 10:30a.m. a bus-sized
asteroid would pass by the earth.
36,750 miles out and heavy on the gas pedal. – I love that so much.
I mean, the entire poem has great imagery, and I really like how you used question marks and I thought the references were well deployed but those lines, that just works so well. Still smiling about those.
Great work here.
so what are you still doing here…eh…? smiles… and hey…poor old david won’t be the only one, envying you…will you write me a postcard from up there…? smiles
Oh, this is heaven! (Pun intended.) I love all the SF references, the slangy language, the tone, the story…. For me the standout line among so many good ones is
The great expanses freckled with dots of light
Then I went back and read the prose version. That was fun too, but I think this is tighter and more sparkling.
I was thrilled that I didn’t have to hitch-hike
through the galaxy and wondered if the fare was 42cents.
Maybe Ms. Frizzle would be at the wheel
with a magical grin and dimple.
That would have been fun too–This just sizzled for me–great fun!
mrs frizzle…ha you are riding the magic school bus…that is awesome…i read the books with my boys….and hey any reason to call into work is good…esp if i get to travel the galaxy…smiles.
Glad you caught me. Sorry about the gaffs linking.
Enjoyed all the references laced throughout, and the concept as well–it would indeed be fun to watch, and rather alarming I think to a lot of politicians to find out our little malted milk ball they strut on is no big deal.
This is AWESOME. I was there beside you wondering if it would be a red double decker. I don’t know Mrs. Frizzle but I imagined her as blue haired and permanent waved and the bus something like the one in Harry Potter (The Knight’s Bus) which could magically squeeze through crowded sidewalks and jump through time. I must check her out sometime. All the other references were there, of course, and I wanted to be “there” too..somewhere on a bus stop in London, zones 1 or 2. Thank you! (but then again you didn’t spell it aluminium…hmmm – guess it could be anywhere)
hmmm, spell check fail…I’ll check it again. thanks for stopping by…if only to wait in the queue with me.
Woke up this morning in my own bed…*snaps finger* Darn! Missed the bus again. Guess I’ll just keep lookin’ up.
love the imagery on this,
milky way, my kind of imaginations, smiles.
keep it up.
Ms. Frizzle’s magic school bus and the bus-sized asteroid… I like how it all ties together. I love Ms. Frizzle.
I was thrilled that I didn’t have to hitch-hike
through the galaxy and wondered if the fare was 42cents.
Maybe Ms. Frizzle would be at the wheel
with a magical grin and dimple.
This is so fun, I laughed in delight several times…DeLightFull
This is just brilliant. Your attention to details brought this to life for me. Thanks for the smile.
This is a fun poem …. I loved it … wanna ride on a bus ride asteroid now! Anyone knows the schedule? When’s another one passing? It must have the Caribbean in it’s bus route….
great wordplay within this, thumbs out for the ride! ~ Rose