poem of the day 03.20.09

down bound

morning train
train of misery
train going straight to hell

there is a man
sitting near me
in shambles
but happily sucking
a beer
through a straw
and it makes me
think about
this morning’s glass
of wine
just one left
finishing off
the debauchery of
the night before

morning train
train of the soulless
train of gleeful doom

i am heading toward hell
toward thursday soaking
in gray
toward something called
a webinar
and i think the word
sounds like death
so i put my book
down
to stare at the train
window
at the dark of underground
brooklyn
and i want to ask that man
for just one pull
on his holy beer
i think i want to kill him

morning train
train of crisis
train of eternal damnation
i imagine us
leaping away from darkness
heading toward
the light
the whole load of us
me, the man, the straw, the beer
the garbage and the rats
the train cars
and raw sewage
but not toward a kind light
a pale forgiving light
but a blinding desert light
with blue skies of madness
just as sad
and vultures looming overhead
hungry for a taste
of our newly rotted
flesh

morning train
train of sorrow unimaginable
train of forever

train redundant and always
on time.

you carry me into hell
each day
you train of my never-ending misery
where the sidewalks are caked
in glass, chicken bones, and shit
and the storefronts are all vacant
where hope has forgotten me
where the sun frowns
but the jewish girls smile
so effortlessly
as they walk by
down eastern parkway
before the last winter snow
turns to the first spring rain.