Is That Guy Doing Crack? A Muni Villanelle

Photo by Flickr user mojito

What with all the heavy Muni news of late, we decided to end the day with some light-hearted fare. Beth, the newly minted Muni Diaries poet laureate (who happens to have a daughter named Laurel, aka cutest baby in the world), has penned this villanelle* for us all:

The Muni bus is lurching side to side.
The driver barks at riders to move back.
I clutch the germ-infested post and ride.

A pee-soaked man and teenager collide
While a third dude hits them with his backpack.
The Muni bus is lurching side to side.

A skeevy guy is humping my backside.
Two kids are eating transfers as a snack.
I clutch the germ-infested post and ride.

Someone’s cologne is strong; it hurts my eyes.
A woman boards, live chicken in a sack.
The Muni bus is lurching side to side.

An N-Judah nearly hits us, broadside.
Taggers scrawl their names in ink of black.
I clutch the germ-infested post and ride.

A dropped hamburger dinner starts to slide
Towards my shoes. Is that guy doing crack?
The Muni bus is lurching side to side.
I clutch the germ-infested post and ride.

“What’s a villanelle,” you ask? Well, clicky that linky up there to find out more about the somewhat-obscure poetic form.

Here’s another Muni-inspired poem by Beth, posted at New Verse News.