CRISP MANâ¨â¨ Cheese and onion.â¨â¨ The guy on the bus was eating cheese and onion crisps so vividly. He was sat behind. Still is. I could see his crisps through my nose. I could fathom the shape. RINGS. Definitely. Smoke rings, heavy plumes. Vapour trails.â¨â¨ Mouth open.â¨â¨Crunching.â¨â¨Intrusive. The fucking cheek. Tangible offence. Wafts. Ungodly. Really awful. â¨â¨Iâm gasping for non-cheese and onion air. This is the thickest its been yet. And thenâŚcalm. His pace chilling to a still heartbeat. Still offensive, still thick.â¨â¨No crisps on public transport. The worst offender bar none. All my Burger King bitches with your staid over priced brown paper cheese lungs, you do not even touch crisps. I heard him pause. Stillness. The noshing of fingers. The savoury honeysuckle. This. Is. Gross. â¨â¨Now heâs back. Second wind.â¨â¨ Family feed bag. â¨The projection. â¨â¨Pink Floyd light show. â¨The air thick. Grave architecture. Crustpunk. â¨â¨You fucking bastard, I hate you.â¨â¨ This is the pollution that hits home the hardest. â¨â¨ Youâve whisked the air up into stiff peaks.â¨â¨I actually hate you.â¨â¨ The sound of you gumming, exploring your mouth for remnants. Hmm, what shall I wear tonight? I forgot about THIS old thing! â¨â¨Such nosh. This is truly unbelievable. â¨â¨Fucking close your mouth for fuckâs sake. â¨â¨ This is THE bottomless bag. Mary once you Poppins you canât stoppins. â¨â¨ Third wave. â¨â¨Fourth wave.â¨â¨ Eternal wafts. â¨â¨I know the bar is low for a night bus but thisâŚthis is beyond. â¨â¨The worst thing is the pacing. The hope, the dashes, the still, the troughs, the calm, the reboot. The moments where you think itâs over. â¨â¨I canât emphasise the between-noshing moments enough. The gumming. The non-packet work. The space between the notes. â¨â¨He just got off the bus.â¨â¨ He was wearing headphones. He couldnât hear himself eat, I presumeâŚthough, no, fuck that because crisps are loudest inside your own head. He knew what he was doing.â¨â¨ I think he left the packet on the bus. Foil drop. â¨â¨ 20 minutes fucking eating crisps behind my head. Why donât you move in. Why donât you just follow me around doing that thing you do with the crisps. You know. I donât care what the crisps were. Iâm turned off crisps forever (for now). They were DEFINITELY from Spar (no conscience shit pedlars for the waved wastemen of EVERYWHERE) and non-brand. â¨â¨ Now there is a man wearing leather pantlets, talking to himself and drinking a can of Stella. I feel like he might turn around and see me writing and bite my hand off. SoâŚbye.â¨â¨ Wait. He just got off the bus and yelled âSTOP THE TRAIN!â That is funny though. Iâve forgotten all about crisp man. STOP THE TRAIN! â¨â¨đâ¨â¨â¨â¨













