poetry texts, poem archive at plagiarist.com

This really is an extraordinary poem, and much better than The Fish one which Bishop herself didn't rate too highly. The voices in the bus are captured perfectly by the rhythm of the poem.

It made me use my imagination as I read about a bus trip stopped in its tracks by a large moose. It puts my senses to work. I can “smell the salt hay”. I can feel the “iron bridge tremble”. I can hear “the loose planks rattle”. I can see the “brisk, freckled, elderly” lady climb onto the bus. I can sense the presence of the strangers traveling with me. It isn’t just a bus trip, it’s a bus trip with the moose