Train Poem

With handles in her fists

by the train tracks and mist,

farewells follow, her friends

and the cat that she’ll miss

more than anything else

waiting on the platform.

Then a time later they

disappear with the hiss

of departure’s approach,

while sleepless and amiss

she stares out the window

of her compartment coach.

Awkward without pillows,

dream dazed she awakens,

in sweat, slowing down to

a halt—her coach vacant.

She gets up just in time

dreading but impatient.