Haiku Friday | Guest Post

Twas '97
I was due to visit "home"
Took a Greyhound bus

Set off from Nawlins
On a thirty-two hour trek
I'd meet many folks

I wore my ripped jeans
Listened to my music loud
In my own bubble

Up to Birmingham
No one had sat beside me
Feet up, relaxin'

Just about to leave
The seat next to me empty
I smiled inside

The door opened up
In staggered a greasy bum
Closed eyes wished him gone

"..next to girl in red"
I huffed as I moved my bag
Trying not too look

He smelled disgusting
I held fingers to my nose
To smell something known

Next stop it was night
I sat in the very back
Next to a black man

He told me stories
Army experiences
In the first Gulf War

He showed me the marks
He called it "Gulf War Syndrome"
Everyone listened

We talked the whole trip
He even shared his chicken
And Newports at stops

In the early hours
I finally caught some sleep
Ohio it was

Almost to New York
I grew tired of the bus
Missed a real toilet

The last stretch was spent
Painting my nails with a girl
She had to be five

Her mother told me
"One day you'll make a great mom!"
Prophecy maybe

For when I returned
To my husband in Nawlins
We conceived our first

Glad I took that trip
In a way I grew up on
The ride of my life

__________________________

That bus trip was something else. I was so tired when I got to Buffalo because I didn't sleep all that much. However, that would pale in comparison to the exhaustion I felt when going back home. My dad had given me his old Mercury Cougar to drive back in. My best friend, and another mutual friend, accompanied me on the ride down. We intended to stop somewhere to sleep, but didn't. We pushed through and got to New Orleans in 26 hours. There's this memory I have of how the street lights looked in the city just before our house, and how I felt completely drunk. It was very surreal.

Had I not pushed through that car ride back down south, we wouldn't have conceived our first child. It was in the wee hours of that morning that we got into New Orleans that Michael and I made love and created our son. Something made me push that trip. Divine Intervention? Perhaps. I totally believe it was a higher power because not only was the baby conceived, we also made it through 3 states with a car that kept overheating.

Funny how we take these trips, these rides of life. Funny how we become a little wiser. Funny how we learn a lot about ourselves on them. Life's a trip; it's a long, curvy, complicated, intoxicating, exhausting, and interesting trip. My name's Mishelle. I like to tell stories. I share many of my life's rides. Come along and ride!

You can come find me over at my blog: Secret Agent Mama

[Thank you to Serina for letting me guest post on her fabulous blog. It was certainly a pleasure as it's one of my favorites.]