The bus rumbled to life and rolled unto the road
Transport for all as his promise bode
As the driver felt slickness and ice on the way
A thought came to mind, a place it would stay
The kids must get to school on time
Through all the weather all the brine
The kids must get to school on time
The sleet grew colder and froze on the ground
One by one the kids boarded in a quick bound
As the driver kept on slowly to school this day
A thought came to mind, a place it would stay
The kids must get to school on time
Through all the weather and all the brine
The kids must get to school on time
Boys threw snowballs and ran around
Slipping and sliding on the slick ground
The driver watched anxiously hoping no one would get hurt
Remembering the fate of his old friend Burt
The lads must get to school unharmed
Though the land is slick from not being farmed
The lads must get to school unharmed
The girls shivered, wrapped against the cold
Glaring at the boys who didn’t do as told
As the driver pulled up and called them aboard
A thought came rushing like a watery ford
The lasses must get to school and be warmed
Though nature gives the worst its formed
The lasses must get to school and be warmed
The wind beat furiously against the bus
Pounding, crying, making a fuss
As the driver wrestled against nature’s force
A thought rushed along on a one-track course
The kids must get safe to school
Though nature is wild and cruel
The kids must get safe to school
The fog rolled in, swift and sure
The world melted into greyish blur
As the driver strained to see through the haze
A thought broke through, went on a rampage
If the kids don’t get to school
However hard I duel
If the kids don’t get to school
The freezing rain turned to hail
Pounded the bus, without fail
The driver urged the chugging beast on
One thought bounded through like a fawn
If the kids don’t get to school
If the weather proves too cruel
If the kids don’t get to school
As the rain fell fast the ditches filled
Unto and over the roads water spilled
As the driver tried to hide this new find
Only one thought remained in his mind
The kids must get to school alive
Though the water is deep enough for a high-dive
The kids must get to school alive
As the school came in sight the students sighed
But the driver was simply happy they arrived
As they pulled up, the school was still dark
A thought rampaged, hopeless and stark
The kids cannot go home
The water rushes with foam
The kids cannot return home
The bus rumbled off and rolled to a stop
The driver realized his major flop
They could not go back the way they came
Thus, this story became one of sad fame
Image Description: Grey floodwaters flow under a gravel road. The culvert is full and the water has completely washed out the roadbed on both sides leaving a thin layer of packed gravel across the top. Orange and black construction pylons stand on the road above the wash out.
Story Behind the Poem:
I grew up in rural Ottawa where everything feels a bit closer to nature. I loved my bus driver. He was quiet and calm, plus he greeted me with a smile every morning when I entered the bus. It was a full-sized bus but because of the long rout he had to drive he didn't have many passengers. As I lived a 5 minute drive from the school I was the last one on and the first one off. A little detour he did down my gravel road before pressing on to the school.
One morning the fog was so thick he crept slowly through the murky grey the whole five kilometres. Even so he missed the turn and everyone felt freaked out while he reoriented himself, got the bus turned around, and this time successfully navigated to the front doors.
Those moments lost in the fog stuck with me. As well as other memories of school busses not being canceled as the roads were fine in town, then watching the catholic bus stop to pick up my neighbours and slide sideways off the ice-encrusted road into the ditch.
I wanted to capture these tense memories in a poetic form that celebrates the determination and gives space to the great stress bus drivers experience.
The image I chose is my road growing up. I was out for a walk as a young adult when I realized the road was washing away due to an intense rain storm. Several school busses had driven over this near-void totally unaware of the impending danger. I ran home and told my parents to call the city then planted myself in the middle of the road demanding drivers turn around. Finally a city dump truck arrived and blocked the road and a while later a front end loader came and with a light tap collapsed the remaining surface area.
https://elameadows.wordpress.com/2021/09/01/natures-worst-lyric/