‘At the Bus Station’ is a poem that will resonate with anyone who’s ever braved public transportation in a city bustling with commuters. There is a combative mood that overtakes these spaces when they’re filled to the brim with individuals desperate to get to work on time. One that causes each person to feel the need to compete with others just to ensure their survival—or spot on the bus.
Chingono's poem is relatively straightforward and isn't too difficult to decipher in terms of its images or themes. However, you might find some of the information below helpful in understanding the poem:
- Although the poem has plenty of unambiguous images, it lacks enough detail to make it a seemingly universal commentary on commutes worldwide. The speaker doesn't reference their point of origin or where the bus is bound to, let alone the country they're currently in.
- The poem also bears some resemblance to another of Chingono's works, specifically the short story "The Commuter," which features much of the same imagery, diction, and figurative language as the poem. Recreating scenes like the "scrambling fight" that ensues "to board the mini-buses," or the only slightly exaggerated feeling that the crowd carries one by force and the fear you might lose your clothes in the process.
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At the Bus StationJulius ChingonoWhen you arriveat the bus stationpull down your tieor remove the tieto prevent strangulation.During the fightto board the bus,unfasten all buttonsof the shirt and jacketto avoid losing the buttons.During the battleto gain entryto the bus,(...)
Read the full text to 'At the Bus Station'.
Explore At the Bus Station
- 1 Summary
- 2 Analysis, Line by Line
- 3 Literary Devices
- 4 Themes
Summary
‘At the Bus Station’ by Julius Chingono provides the reader with a series of instructions intended to help them emerge unscathed from the brawl that ensues as people try to get on a bus.
Once you get to the bus station, you should either loosen or remove your tie to avoid being strangled with it. In the middle of the fight to enter the bus, undo the buttons of your shirt and jacket so they’re not lost in the scuffle. Amidst the struggle to board the bus, make sure your shoes are tied tightly because they may fly off when you’re dragged onto the bus. You should also secure your belt so you’re not disrobed when the chaos begins. Take off your glasses and find someone to hold onto until you get on. As you ascend do not heed the voices of others, you must remember that words are unintelligible and meaningless until you’ve stepped onto the bus.
The Poem Analysis Take
Expert Insights by Steven Ward
B.A. Honors in English Literature
I find that what makes 'At the Bus Station' such a memorable poem is that it communicates a profoundly relatable message as earnestly and plainly as possible. A quick read, the first time you make it through you'll find yourself focusing on its striking array of images, which illustrate a scene familiar to most working-class people: the rush hour of a morning commute. The detail and careful balance between reality and hyperbole are proof to me thatChingono intimately understands the competitive chaos that overtakes these moments. By far the most powerful are the instances of kinesthetic imagery, which faithfully simulate the whirlwind and crazed energy I've also personally experienced while trying to board a crowded city bus.
Analysis, Line by Line
Lines 1-10
When you arrive
at the bus station
pull down your tie
or remove the tie
to prevent strangulation.
During the fight
to board the bus,
unfasten all buttons
of the shirt and jacket
to avoid losing the buttons.
‘At the Bus Station’ begins with the speaker giving their advice on how to best prepare for the mayhem of public transportation. Neither the identities nor the relationship of the speaker and the person they’re talking to are revealed. All we know is that they’re fellow commuters—one with evidently more experience than the other.
The diction and imagery of Chingono’s more experienced speaker frame the act of boarding as a fierce, arduous struggle. Ties are taken off or loosened “to prevent strangulation” and buttons are unclasped to keep them from popping off when the “fight / to board the bus” begins. Their calm tone, which persists throughout the poem, only underscores the regularity of this clamorous free-for-all.
Lines 11-25
During the battle
to gain entry
to the bus,
tighten both shoelaces
(…)
The speaker continues to offer their unique insight on riding the bus, characterizing it as a strenuous physical conflict, a “battle / to gain entry.” Chingono’s diction is hyperbolic, using the language of war to emphasize its raucousness. This is frequently underscored by the speaker’s recommendations to secure pieces of their outfit “to avoid being undressed / during the scrambling.”
The seriousness of their suggestion to “tighten both shoelaces,” “tighten your belt,” and “remove your spectacles” or else risk losing them in the fray adds a slightly cartoonish element to the scene. Yet it’s also one of helpless resignation: the speaker’s advice isn’t to resist or fight back against the crowd but to acquiesce and simply survive it (unscathed and with their clothing intact). All they can do is “hold tight to someone”—another sign they’re at the mercy of the mass of commuters.
Lines 26-30
(…)
words lose meaning
until you are inside the bus.
In the final lines of ‘At the Bus Station,’ the speaker shares two curious words of guidance: “pay no attention to human sounds” and the knowledge that “words lose meaning” during the struggle to board. In other words, the people that compose this rabble of prospective bus riders both refuse and are unable to communicate with themselves, which only fuels the madness.
Since there’s no point in listening to those “human sounds,” as they’re inarticulate and lacking sense or significance, everyone focuses on themselves. This also seems to imply an aversion to either seeking out help or offering aid to anyone else trying to board the bus. It also explains why the speaker is telling this to their companion beforehand—as it’ll be impossible once they’re in the thick of it.
Literary Devices
‘At the Bus Station’ uses some of the following literary devices:
- Kinesthetic Imagery: Chingono relies mostly on images that depict movement. There are several recommendations to fasten one’s clothing, as in the lines “pull down your tie” (3) and “tighten both shoelaces” (14). Another is the descriptions of the “fight to board the bus,” where you can be “hauled / into the bus” (15-16) amidst the “scrambling / at the door” (21-22).
- Visual Imagery: Another striking image is the momentary stillness of when “you hang in the air” (17).
- Auditory Imagery: The phrase “human sounds” (27) conjures for the reader an unintelligible, uncanny noise. One that is perhaps distinctly human because of the way it sounds, though still robbed of all meaning.
Themes
‘At the Bus Station’ uncovers how the self-centered and madcap scramble to board the bus is indicative of human nature and society at large:
The selfishness of survival: Chingono’s poem reveals the chaos and self-centered clamber to survive that defines people’s daily commutes. Before they’ve even arrived at work they’re met with the rapacious strife of boarding their bus—the best advice for which is to secure their clothing, hold on tight, and ignore the people around them. Formidable and isolating, the commute doesn’t breed camaraderie but fierce competition, a desire to not be the last one of the mob to reach the door. These selfish but seemingly necessary sentiments reveal the self-serving rat race that fuels life in the 21st century, as well as expose the worrying ways humanity so easily relinquishes empathy and cooperation out of self-preservation (even when it’s counterintuitive to that goal).
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