I remember originally submitting three haiku, all of them with the same first line: “Waiting for the bus.” I just think that's an interesting threshold for people. They are not where they want to be; they're headed somewhere else. It's like waiting rooms and airports; there's a chance of something else happening.

In this haiku, there are spires and concrete, the emblems of the city, but also the possibility of something other, something more. The abstract word “tenderness” is contrasted with the tangible. When I'm traveling, or when I'm in a new city, I try to take the bus. I like that. There's adventure in it, and a way to discover the place.