Change

.

Stepping down was like being born
out of the flank
of a bus, like Dionysus from
Zeus. The guts of the pavement
lay open under flags and gazers.

As we passed the bank and needle,
still on the bus, you gazed
out and then it seemed I was Dionysus
and you Diana or another in the bays.
I rushed towards you as if Zeus
heard you when you turned to me, amazed,
and said “It’s strange to see the world through
your arm.”

Diana huntress: fresco, c. 350 AD, Via Livenza hypogeum, Rome
Office (London bus RT 3871): photo by Les Chatfield, 2008