Wednesday, December 22, 2021
POEM: ROME EXPRESS BY NIGHT (1968)
Leaving behind laughter and pain,
Bringing joy or sadness,
Onward rolls the Rome Express
Pounding over the invisible German countryside,
Where, in other times, the young men died.
Faces tell stories, some of which are lies,
A smile may cover sadness,
A gloomy visage may hide a happy heart.
Strangers, strangely intent on remaining strangers,
Eyes avoiding eyes, souls avoiding souls,
In dark windows of the cars,
Outward looking eyes,
Mingle with the stars.
American soldier, German hausfrau, Turkish laborer,
In the compartment, rich and poor mingled,
Poured into this tiny, mobile room.
Across the compartment sits a Sikh,
With his uncut hair and beard.
An old woman takes black bread and apple
From her bag to make a meal.
The train passes sleepy German villages
In the night,
Where, not too long ago
A war was fought,
Now, peacefully fading
Into the night,
And memory.
{Photograph "Windows" by Dana Popescu.)
Labels: Dana Popescu, donovan baldwin, poem, poetry, Rome express, strangers on a train, trains, windows
# posted by Donovan Baldwin @ 8:03 AM 
