Bloody Men: A Poem by Wendy Cope

A short, witty poem that compares men to city buses

Wendy Cope (born 1945) is an award-winning British poet who has a knack of saying serious things in a light-hearted way. Her output has been relatively small (only four published collections of poetry for adults between 1986 and 2011), which is probably why she has not achieved greater recognition to date.

“Bloody Men” dates from 1987 and was the opening poem of her second collection, “Serious Concerns” (2002). It can be considered typical of her style and approach.

The poem

Bloody men are like bloody buses -
You wait for about a year
And as soon as one approaches your stop
Two or three others appear.

You look at them flashing their indicators,
Offering you a ride.
You’re trying to read the destination,
You haven’t much time to decide.

If you make a mistake, there is no turning back.
Jump off, and you’ll stand there and gaze
While the cars and the taxis and lorries go by
And the minutes, the hours, the days.