The Train

Every night at 5:30, I hear the train

and I chew, chew on a mouth full

of peas, choking them down

She stares at me and wonders

if I'll ever be a doctor now, if I'll ever

run off and get married like she did,

in a dime store dress and a sad predicament

The train makes the whole house tremble

makes it shake, makes her swallow

what she really wants

to say to me, to tell me to eat

what's good for me, to take

what she puts on my plate.

For heaven's sake, she knows

what she's talking about

For my sake, I wish she'd shut up.

I like to listen to the train

when it goes out early in the morning

and breaks the stillness

of the sleeping houses, racks them

with heavy sobs, they shake, they want

to come loose, to break free, they want

And then they settle.  Once

the train passes.