Bus Ride

The wheels on the bus go round and round,
like the children's song said they would.

The song didn't tell the children that when they became
too old
to ride the bus,
they might watch another person load a car with shopping bags
they can't afford.

How one day at the grocery store they might overhear
a white man talk down to a Hispanic woman
and realize an ugly truth.
That they might start exploring their sexuality
and learn things
others want them to hide.

The song didn't mention
blades of grass,
run over by hundred of feet every day,
each a unique beauty destroyed.
It didn't mention the sun
and the heat
they would feel
when they stepped off the bus.

The song didn't tell them
what life would be like off the bus
or that they are never too old
to ride it.