Train Poem

Midday magic on the Train

I am sitting still
while flying
50 mph 60 mph
Through the suburbs
through the ghettos
the subdivisions
the barrios
the commercial districts
Industrial warehouse zone
through parks green with trees

60 mph
Into Dallas
Behind the stores and banks
I am hidden
another urban nobody
One of the empty
expressionless faces on the train
I am going nowhere
to do nothing
no destination
no destiny
I just want to ride
relax and fly

70 mph 80 mph
Tunnel into the city
Nova Roma
Nuevo Tenochtitlan
Neomesopotamia
Babylon mother womb
40 mph 30 mph
Exit into the sunshine
cooled by the shadows
of the skyscrapers
where the city's secrets lie
Through the heart
Downtown The West End
Where old is reborn
Where rich walks past poor
where workplace meets with playland




Stop
I exit the train
and let everyone pass me by
Lights changing
Red & White
Trains coming and going
Blue & Red
back and forth
Westmoreland
Parker Road
Ledbetter
Downtown Garland

The track
X chromosome across the metroplex sex cell
Hundreds of miles of track
thousands of miles traveled daily

Thousands of passengers
business suit managers
underemployed janitors
women with their children
Lonely poets like me
Together in the train.