Poetry, Grades 7 - 9: Third Place


Rolling with Linda the Bus Driver - Asher Mintzer

As I stepped onto the bus
in my minuscule four-year-old body I craned my head upward
to look at Linda the bus driver.
There I would sit right behind her and
while she drove I would ask her the little
life questions that plagued me
as a child.

 

Do the tags on your shirt still itch when you are big?
How come no adults wear cool light-up shoes?
Why do they wear lame leather shoes instead?

 

Do grownups speak a different language?
Or do I just not understand what they are saying?

 

Are adults born big and kids born small?

 

My dad went to Lost School. Is that a place for runaway kids like Peter Pan?       
(I later found out he went to law school).

 

Now that I am older
I wonder what Linda the bus driver was thinking
with this tiny four-year-old rambling on and on.
I bet she thought to herself:
This boy is going to
have a crazy journey figuring out his little
life questions. 

 

I’m sure I will.

 


 


Asher Mintzer has entered Keren Or three times and come away with a prize each time. He is in the 9th grade at Hopkins North Jr. High School. In addition to enjoying sports and being with grandparents, Asher likes riding with the even more lively bus driver, Ms. Sharon