Reading On The Road
I'm sat on the number 61 bus
after visiting my therapist
....Tesco Express....
I'm on the 61 bus because
I have an attention deficit
....Persian Rug and Gift Centre....
I discovered it last Saturday -
well, my missus found it for me -
....Nightingale Jewellery....
when she came home unexpectedly
as I was watching TV
....Mud....
it was horse racing from Worcester
and I had James Brown on a CD
....Selly Oak Cycles....
football on the computer
and a book by Dostoyevsky
....Majid Abdul Fish and Chips....
in my hand, all at the same time.
She wore the dress that she'd just bought
and her hair was cut and dyed
....Posh Pets....
when she asked me what I thought
I unthinkingly replied
....Dragon Fashions Tattoos....
that the Villa look like winning
James Brown's the King of Soul Music
....Bohemia....
my horse lost in a photo-finish
and Raskolnikov has blew it
....Selly Sausage....
without bothering to look up.
She reckoned that I need some help,
counselling or a therapist
....Beds Direct....
"you're in a world all by yourself
you've got an Attention Deficit!"
....Farce and Firkin....
when I proclaimed my innocence
she explained that's just a symptom
....Suizen's Noodle Bar....
"Oppositional Defiance"
I missed the 3.15 from Kempton
....Big John's Fast Food....
So I went to see the therapist,
there were six of us -Group Therapy
....Trattoria Giancarlo....
I told them of my deficit
and my wife got all their sympathy
....Ali Baba Lebanese Coffee....
A basic course of CBT
was the therapist's suggestion
....Riley's....
how to focus on reality
and pay it full attention
....Acropolis Now....
curbing selfish tendencies
would brighten my prognosis
....Kebab Land....
then the others aired their grievances
but I didn't take much notice
....Munchies....
Still, I've made these mental notes
while on the bus returning
....Bettie's Tea Rooms....
of all the shops in Selly Oak
I'm passing on my journey
....Taj Mahal....
now we're coming to my stop
I feel attentive and alert
....Sundarbon....
but as I'm waiting to get off
my inner harmony's disturbed
....Tiger-Lou's Nail Bar....
the driver of number 61
uses elbows for the steering
....Mamma Mia....
and his hands to turn the pages of
the novel that he's reading
....Shangri-La....
All the way to town and back
he's weaved a route by magic
....The Knife and Fork....
reading On The Road by Kerouac
without looking at the traffic
....Dotcomicide....
I wrote the name of my therapist
in the margin of page 23
....The Ragged Staff....
"you've got an Attention Deficit
take my seat in Group Therapy!
....Chez Moi....
My need is rather less than yours,
how on earth do you drive a bus.....?"
....Juggling and Kites....
he opened automatic doors
without bothering to look up.
Ray Miller
Mon 3rd May 2010 11:20
Thanks Greg. A friend drew my attention to a story a couple of weeks ago of a bus driver in Birmingham who'd been sacked for reading a book whilst driving his bus.A passenger posted a clip on You Tube.I was sort of challenged to write about it. I'd love to know what he was reading!Probably not On The Road!I have this idea now of performing it using cardboard signs with shop names on like Dylan did with Subterranean Homesick Blues.