Happening

by Andrew Shields

He stood up suddenly and threw
himself and his grey canvas sack
to the bus's floor, then, clutching
the sack's edges, he struck the floor
with it again, four or five times,
then stopped. No one moved, everyone
had moved for a moment, away
from him as he had struck the floor.

He sat looking at the contents
of the bag, now strewn all over.
Cassetts, broken cassette cases,
assorted papers, and pieces
of his old cassette recorder.
He sat quite still for a moment.
Whatever had been happening
wasn't happening anymore.

Nothing continued to happen,
then something began to happen
again. He began to pick up
his things, put them into the sack.
No one moved. They all looked at him,
or they all tried not to look at him.
He put his things into the sack
with steadily increasing speed.

Andrew Shields, "Happening" from Thomas Hardy Listens to Louis Armstrong. Copyright © 2015 by Andrew Shields.