PERSON Poem: To The Stranger At The Bus Stop, by Amy Luo

I’m not a stalker, trust.
Nor do I have a weird infatuation with you.
But I’ve been watching you for a year now.

I used to be the only girl getting on that 64 bus
passing by our stop at about 6:44 AM each morning.
Each weekday.

Then you appeared out of nowhere.
As the bus opened its doors, I got on. Then you.
I started keeping tabs on you since day 1.

You quickly became one of the regulars.
Always got on at the same stop.
Always walked over from the same direction.
Almost always had a pair of jeans on.

I’ve seen you for a year by now,
trying to put each bit of information I gleam off of you together
piece by piece. Like you’re a puzzle I wanted to solve.

I think I know where you reside,
as if I’m gonna show up at your doorstep someday.

I think you go to school in my district,
based on the stop you get off at.

I think you moved to my neighborhood recently,
once you started taking this bus
you took it for the rest of the school year.

In June, I saw you on the last day of school.
Surely, I wouldn’t see you over the summer.
The next time we’d meet
would be the next school year. I think.

The day I figured out the 64 bus that gets me to work on time
you were there. Wearing scrubs and an ID badge
around your neck. I became a scientist again,
collecting more data.

I think you wanna work in the medical field,

Your badge said “Beth Israel Hospital”

I think you took the 64 bus up to Central
before taking the 47 bus to work.

I still think you go to school in my district,
otherwise you couldn’t have worked there
over the summer.

The first day of the next school year,
I took a different route to school.
Familiarizing myself with this woman I had no data on.
I knew I’d go back to the 64 in the colder months.

Two weeks ago, I switched routes.
To the 64 bus at 6:44 AM.
As I waited for the bus to say hi,
you appeared from the same spot as always.
To take the same bus I take.

I’m not a stalker, trust.
Nor do I have a weird infatuation with you.
Nor am I a creep.

All I have is interest and a bottle
of curiosity, bubbling as if it’s about to explode.
I wanna get to know you.

You had a friend with you last year,
so I didn’t pay much attention.
But this year, its just you.
My curiosity fizzed, and I just wanna open up.

I feel like I’ve been staring at you too much,
you’ve probably caught on. Everyday as I wait for the bus
I turn away so you don’t see my face.
Keeping my classic poker face on,
but really behind it all I have all these thought bubbles.
I wanna get to know you.

I wanna know what your voice sounds like
how accurate my collected data is
when you moved here
where you’re from

your story
If you want to be friends
so that you no longer need to search
on Yubo.

To the stranger at the bus stop,
I wanna get to know you.
Do you wanna be friends?