All Aboard the Crescent Line - my poem for the Next Stop train poetry contest!
If you have Gather, please vote for my submission here - rate it ten stars if you like it, so I can be one of finalists for the contest!
All Aboard the Crescent Line
by Laura Cushing
1. Penn Station, NY
A Columbia University student
backpack on his shoulders
i-pod in ears, a going-home smile,
checks the schedule - all on time.
2. Market St. Station, PA
A Chinese couple exchange
glances and bites of sweet
and sour chicken as they
wait for the child to arrive.
3. Union Staton, DC
An intern going south
dries her goodbye tears
in a handkerchief borrowed
from a political friend. Business
will bring her back soon.
4. Culpeper, VA
A slight delay in schedule
causes a long conversation
between a woman and a man
that ends in an exchange
of addresses and promises.
5. Greenville, SC
A young sailor helps an
old woman with packages.
An old veteran helps a young
woman with her baby
carriage and his kind words.
6. Birmingham, AL
A man and woman whisper
heads bowed, hands held.
Will the ticket take them
far enough from troubles?
They hope, they dream.
7. New Orleans, LA
You spy a crescent moon
outside our train window,
and turn to me, saying
"This is it, our last stop.
We're finally going home."
All Aboard the Crescent Line
by Laura Cushing
1. Penn Station, NY
A Columbia University student
backpack on his shoulders
i-pod in ears, a going-home smile,
checks the schedule - all on time.
2. Market St. Station, PA
A Chinese couple exchange
glances and bites of sweet
and sour chicken as they
wait for the child to arrive.
3. Union Staton, DC
An intern going south
dries her goodbye tears
in a handkerchief borrowed
from a political friend. Business
will bring her back soon.
4. Culpeper, VA
A slight delay in schedule
causes a long conversation
between a woman and a man
that ends in an exchange
of addresses and promises.
5. Greenville, SC
A young sailor helps an
old woman with packages.
An old veteran helps a young
woman with her baby
carriage and his kind words.
6. Birmingham, AL
A man and woman whisper
heads bowed, hands held.
Will the ticket take them
far enough from troubles?
They hope, they dream.
7. New Orleans, LA
You spy a crescent moon
outside our train window,
and turn to me, saying
"This is it, our last stop.
We're finally going home."