"A Trains Constant Visit"
Train tracks crossed behind my small house in p-town.
The long stranger who came and went by a strict schedule.
No need for clocks, just the ability to add up 30 minute intervals.
A low distant rumble that slowly creeps closer until the ground
shook beneath your feet and the dishes danced in the cabinets.
Pictures on the wall were askew and display items out of place.
Eventually, they would right themselves every 3rd or 4th visit.
One day I stood high up on the cyclone fence only three feet away.
Hearing before seeing, the train rushed passed and the hot brown air
slapped my skin and I forced my eyes open to see the sparks fly below.
The conductor waved a warning and I raised mine to greet him.
I waited until the caboose passed, my loud shout goodbye
swallowed up by the receding pound of metal.
Guests would cover their ears and miss the soothing sounds,
a constant rhythm of smooth round wheels against thin tracks.
Night falls and we all end our day, but the long stranger never sleeps,
working twenty four hours that bleed right into the next repetitious ones.
Lying still, I hear the loud reminder that this is home and I am
being hailed once again by the piercing sound of it's horn.
posted by Darlene at
12:20 AM
9 Comments:
oh how i remember the train a block away from my apartment in P-town (down the street from your yellow one). after a while, i no longer heard or felt it. i even forgot it was there until i had friends over and they asked me how i could stand it.
the noise and the rumbles became part of my every day.
then i moved to Berkeley two houses down from the fire station. now THAT i never got used to. ; )
this was so well written...i could taste it.
love you sis.
u obviously had to be there BUT I to lived with the sound of the train.
In Cairns we lived on the Kuranda Train line 4 times a day packed with tourists my kids loved running to the back yard to wave to these happy strangers. You so do get used to the train as if it is not there but my babies always new and loved it. Thanks for the memory.
Shaz
this was so evocative - i love your poetry, d. :)
There's a comfort in the rhythm and expectation ... lovely post.
There are so many bit I love about this:
"No need for clocks, just the ability to add up 30 minute intervals"
"Eventually, they would right themselves every 3rd or 4th visit"
"brown air slapped my skin"
This is so descriptive that I almost feel the rumble and hear the roar as the train goes by. Love it!
I love the part about the too-close meeting between you and the train - dangerous but necessary for true understanding - like meeting a tiger in its cage.
i live under a flight landing path, not quite so violent -but i can certainly relate ;-D
love x x x x x
So beautiful and descriptive; you brought me to that place.
xoxox
fantastic imagery!
You took me right back to childhood and my grandmother's house which had a railway track at the bottom of the garden. Such sweet days.
Thanks for dropping by to see me and have a good weekend yourself.
Angela
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