ASHER

Mommy, mommy look! cries Asher
in the car seat in the back of
his mother’s Subaru SUV.
There’s a peacock waiting for the bus!

Asher is so excited
he momentarily forgets
he dropped his plastic brontosaurus
onto the car floor
and can’t reach it.

Whadd’dya say? Asks mommy
Distracted
from lack of sleep
and her husband’s infidelity
focused only on the 20 feet of road
directly ahead of her
as she drives to the divorce attorney’s office

There’s a peacock on line for the bus, repeats Asher
He’s so pretty! Lookit!
Mommy quickly looks over but
the M42 bus pulls in and blocks her view.
She misses the magic.

DRIVER

T. Williams
Badge #3459
Has been driving this route for 17 years
practically at one with the seat

Normally he can’t be bothered
to look at the passengers
he’s seen every type anyway and
can size them up without even turning his head.

But today, a peacock boards the bus.

Just as T. Williams is about to grouse
about the length of Peacock’s tail
and how much space it will take up
in an already-crowded bus
And warn Peacock not to get on

Peacock regally steps up.
Inserts his Metro card into the reader
and elegantly removes it.
T. Williams is struck by the flash of iridescent blue
on Peacock’s neck
and something in him shifts.
Softens.

I guess it’s no different from
that lady in the fat fur coat the other day, he recalls
— who wears fur nowadays?—
Her arms overflowing with bags from
Apple and Bendel’s and Bergdorf’s and Saks
as if she started from 59th St. and
avalanched her way south along Fifth Avenue.
She took up a whole lotta space too
but it all worked out.

He gives Peacock a slight nod of greeting
as Peacock carefully steps into the bus aisle.

PEACOCK

Peacock waits at the bus stop
feeling the stares of others.
All eyes on him saying nothing.
Peacock looks blankly ahead.

Some fucking day for my car not to start, he thinks.
Congestion pricing making it impossible
for him to get a cab
or an Uber
So now I gotta take the goddamn bus, he grumbles.

Peacock grips his briefcase handle tighter as he
remembers the last time he took the bus years ago
and the stupid driver closed the doors
on his tail feathers.
That hurt for weeks!

Dear God, not today, prays Peacock
on his way to a photo shoot
at NBC
because they need to update their logo.

As the M42 is about to pull into the stop
Peacock notices a small boy
Waving
and blowing kisses at him
from the backseat of a Subaru SUV.

Peacock smiles back
and bobs his head in reply.