taking the muni bus

5 westbound on fulton

toward ocean beach

on sunday morning

to play soccer

i watched an encounter earlier

when i switched from

the twenty-four to the five

where a woman wanted

to bring on a trolley full of

recycled cans and bottles

two trash bags full

but the bus driver said no more

there were already some

folks on the bus with trash bags

full of recyclables

i figures the lady would just

wait for the next bus

but she was shouting

in a language i didn’t know

and then another woman

that was coming onto the bus

aided the bus driver

in pushing the woman

with the bags, off the bus

i felt bad about it

watching from the bus stop

at the other side of the street

but didn’t know

what i could do

the pick-up game

is normally in north beach

by the ghirardelli factory

but the pitch is different today

on account of it being

july 4th weekend

we’ve gotten to 8th avenue

in the time it’s taken me

to write this

i’m looking forward

to playing

and not thinking

about anything

i check my bag compulsively

to make sure

i brought both cleats

not that i’ve ever brought

only one before

but just to make sure