including the Peter Pan bus driver.
He seems normal enough –
until we’re on the road.
With him at the wheel
and on the microphone,
he’s got a captive audience.
“This bus will make the
following stops:
New Britain, Connecticut;
Hartford, Connecticut;
Springfield, Northampton, Greenfield, Massachusetts;
Brattleboro, Vermont and points north
to White River Junction.
Estimated time of arrival
is when you get there.”
I see him practicing his delivery
at home in the bathroom mirror,
making sure his face doesn’t give away
his punch line.
He perfects his timing,
gets it just right,
before delivering it to his audience.
But we are a small
and unresponsive group.
When he gets home
will he tell his wife
we were a tough crowd?
Lindel Hart is a writer, performer, GCC student, and yoga teacher living in Western Massachusetts. His adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein premiered in an abandoned bank building in Greenfield, MA, and was performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (Scotland) and the Academy of Music (Northampton). See more at lindelhart.com.