POEM - The Legend of the $50 Bus

Rolled in to Cali blurry eyed

My aunt was getting married

Everyone was going to be there

An bonus family reunion

I liked these trips

California is a land where stuff happens

All kinds of cool stuff

Things that a teenager likes

Interesting sights and sounds and places

Maybe we’d get picked to go to a Dodger game

Or surprised by a trip over to Disneyland

Could be a drive through LA

Stopping by Olvera street

            For those amazing taquitos

                        And their volcanic green sauce

When I arrived I found Matt living there

He’d ditched his parents in Utah

Had to get out for a change of scenery

            And a change of everything else

He brought with him a new element

Something different and exciting

Because Matt had a car

            His very own car at the grandparent’s house

                        A well-used white VW bus

He said he had bought it for $50

            Someone his parents knew cut him a deal

This meant we were mobile

            Like we had never been mobile before

The bus was suspect at best

It died at every stop light

It also had the two front seats only

I looked back and noticed all the room

            “You could fit a lot of stuff in there.” I said

“Yup!” Matt said, “Like surfboards!”

Suddenly it was the best car ever

Giddily we raced off to a party

            Followed by free range wandering

I was impressed when we didn’t roll over

            When Matt pulled a donut in gravel

                        Going downhill at 40 miles per hour

We spun to a stop and took a deep breath

            And the bus promptly died

All we could do was laugh and shrug

            Start it up again and head home

You have to forgive the quirks

That come with a $50 car

Especially one that holds surfboards