trains – POETRY and PLACES

Night Journey, poem by Theodore Roethke with photograph by Corky Lee

Night Journeyby Theodore Roethke Now as the train bears west,Its rhythm rocks the earth,And from my Pullman berthI stare into the nightWhile others take their rest.Bridges of iron lace,A suddenness of trees,A lap of mountain mistAll cross my line of sight,Then a bleak wasted place,And a lake below my knees.Full on my neck I feelTheContinue reading “Night Journey, poem by Theodore Roethke with photograph by Corky Lee”

Poem for Oneonta, New York by Joan McNerney

Poem for Oneonta, New York by Joan McNerney We sleep with trains dreaming in Indian names. Otsego, Otsego long lake of night trailing snow showers of light. In black wells of solitude through silent fixed stars we search for trains brightened by Indian names. Neahwa Neahwa shadows of Indian names filled with fragrant spruce andContinue reading “Poem for Oneonta, New York by Joan McNerney”

Towers loom by Patrick T. Reardon

Towers loom by Patrick T. Reardon Loop towers loom behind their gleam, and I can take you to the parking lot just off Dearborn Street where the Mayor and reporters went down into unflooded freight tunnels (although that lot is likely gone now, 26 years later). Alex and I drove south to north from city border to cityContinue reading “Towers loom by Patrick T. Reardon”

London by Kim Whysall-Hammond

London by Kim Whysall-Hammond Emerging from the Tube you clothe me with dusty breath and ambient noise I feel you living restlessly lifeforce surging through centuries pulsing through busy streets I turn a corner and a garden churchyard filled with lunchers and tourists leads me to rest. When leaving you I reach down pet yourContinue reading “London by Kim Whysall-Hammond”

Train to Agra by Vandana Khanna

Train to Agra by Vandana Khanna I want to reach you— in that city where the snow only shimmers silver for a few hours. It has taken seventeen years. This trip, these characters patterned in black ink, curves catching on the page like hinges, this weave of letters fraying like the lines on my palm,Continue reading “Train to Agra by Vandana Khanna”

Paris, France (Metro), In a Station of the Metro by Ezra Pound

In a Station of the Metro by Ezra Pound The apparition of these faces in the crowd: Petals on a wet, black bough. PHOTO: Metro Station, Paris, France, by Lee Blanchflower on Unsplash

The Night Journey by Theodore Roethke

NIGHT JOURNEYby Theodore Roethke Now as the train bears west,Its rhythm rocks the earth,And from my Pullman berthI stare into the nightWhile others take their rest.Bridges of iron lace,A suddenness of trees,A lap of mountain mistAll cross my line of sight,Then a bleak wasted place,And a lake below my knees.Full on my neck I feelTheContinue reading “The Night Journey by Theodore Roethke”