Innocents Abroad

On stage of this world’s stage we see the play
of poems, songs and laughter—nobler view
than groundlings with their beer or tourists who
find rain to usher homeward from the Globe

and next day, gazing down from Greenwich train
we sigh at houseyards’ laundry, weeds and junk—
forgetting cities live and pulse and breathe
beyond the graystone, ancient sites we trek
with weary feet and spinning, weary minds

Alternate Trains

A long look

down short

track or short

glance down

long track

looking longingly

for one train

out of town

curving sharp

around farmland

having tunneled

through hard hills…

The empty car

is better seat-

silence sun

slanting against

glass so you see

not only waving

grain in fields

(broad flat-

horizoned view)

but your own

reflection heavy-

eyed age-lined…

No. You want

the fast train

to the city

at night lights

dim beyond

drinks car

view starry

blackness

open like

a dream

revealed

in the rhythmic

bump of tracks

someone’s sleep-

deep breathing

and slowly

solidifying

twinkle

that sings

your future