Trains

Once again I awoke
To the alarm call of Saturn's bid

I am evoked.
By the roar of a distant engine 

That shakes the bed, commanding me 

From a timeless zone

Through every shell I’ve ever known.

Roiled and risen, I obey

And await interrogation.

The Conductor asks the questions

His words spray molten sparks

And glow as if from a separate darkness:

What is yet to be stricken?
From an endless trail of 
College-ruled grocery lists and recipes, 
Dreams, and lusts now lost, and those yet to be?

He soon exits the same way he came

And from rough quake, a gentle rocking remains

The metallic orchestra begins to fade.

I stay awake and watch a new sun rise

As a blank sheet of paper appears behind my eyes.