My Bus Poem

Yesterday I went to a reception at the library for the winners of the Metro Bus Poetry Contest. There were a lot of kids, but some other adults also had poems chosen. We each had to read our poems aloud in front of the crowd - eek! Students at Edgewood made background art for our poems, and mine was a lovely depiction of a road curving around to the skyline of Madison, which is a literal interpretation of parts of my poem:

Curving around the loveliest of lakes,

Call it John Nolen, Willy Street, Atwood, Monona:

Full of colors and music and delicious flavors,

It’s the most wonderful street in the world.

It certainly got the curve part! Rich stopped by and took a picture of me holding the framed artwork, so I will post that at some point. (For some reason we didn’t get to keep the artwork.) The thing I didn’t think the art captured was the sense of festivity I associate with this street that keeps changing names. Certainly there are Willy Street Fest and Atwood Fest, when several blocks of the street are one big party, but on John Nolen there is also the Monona Terrace, where they have festivities like the Dane Dances. I would have liked something to capture how this street is one big party! The image that comes to my mind is the main drag in Aberdeen; when Travalon and I were there five years ago, they had tiny flags flying over the street for blocks and blocks. Was this because of a festival? No festival was going on at the time, so I’m not sure. But it looked very festive! Or maybe the artwork could have had music notes to reflect all the music you hear on the street? Anyway, Travalon and I are going to celebrate “Streetfest” at some point in the future, when things are warmer. We will go to an establishment on each differently-named section of the street, like the Monona Terrace on John Nolan, any number of places on Willy Street and Atwood, and end up at Travalon’s favorite, David’s Jamaican on Monona Drive. Partying around the lake! What better way to celebrate the fact that I will be published for the first time – on the side of a bus! If I ever see “my” bus around town (it won’t be decorated until August), I’ll try to take a picture of it and post it. How cool if I get to ride it!

Famous Hat