by Olivia Barabanchuk (she/her)
Artwork by Hanna Biju.
Waiting for the bus on dusty pavement.
While through cracks, weeds
shoot up straight from cliff-like places.
Though the heat vibrates the air,
Not a sound cuts through, except the shuffling of feet
And perhaps, if to strain the ear hard enough,
Something growing,
Sky bound faces on thin stems,
Would be heard.
A sharp crack filled the pocket of silence
At the glass-littered bus stop,
And quiet curses towards the aftermath
Of beer glugging out of the tall green can.
Swirling and bubbling:
A one stop stream to golden, bright, young things.
And the dandelions
Their drunken heads bobbing,
Nodding at the beer seeping down to their roots.
And the dandelions
Tasting sweeter delights,
Without noticing their heads drooping lower to the dust.
And the bus drives away
And through the spotted
window I can see their heads
still Nodding, nodding,
nodding.
Olivia Barbanchuk
Olivia Barbanchuk is a poet currently studying English and Creative Writing at University College Dublin. She has been published by CDETB (City of Dublin Education and Training Board) edition (2018) “We Write What We Like” and by Poetry Ireland (2020 and 2021) “Poetry Day Teacher’s Resources Guide”. Her poetry has been read on RTE 2FM and she has participated in two radio shows in partnership with Belfield FM.
