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poetry tREnD
Perspective
It is February. From the tracks beyond the cemetery
the last train defies the dark, defies the dark
beyond the cemetery. It is February. Onto the tracks
a body may fall, fall from the bridge
the bridge that springs over the tracks, the tracks
on which a body may span, horizontal
east to west or west to east, never north to south
south to north. Horizontal.
Too late, too late to grind the brakes, the brakes
too late if a body breaks on the tracks.
The woman at the window sees the man on the bridge
to the man on the bridge the woman at the window cries Wait.
Spanning the tracks that the driver can see
but not a body spanning the tracks
there is no body spanning the tracks as he moves on,
moves on defying the dark
beyond the cemetery. It is February. The rails are sharp
the night is clear, he is on time.
The driver’s on time. All is ordered in this dark. He’s taken advice.
He can implement procedures. Procedures.
Vera climbs the stairs of the bridge, sees the man on the bridge
hears the cry of the woman at the window but not the word. She is alone.
He cuts a swathe towards the tunnel. He is on time
he is a man who defies the dark
he is a man moving on, moving on through the night
the night is ordered, he is ordered
the driver’s on time. He’s taken advice. He keeps his hand
he stays his hand, he can implement…
The boy sleeping under the bridge hears slippers shuffling the bridge
hears a woman’s cry. He doesn’t move. It could be a ploy.
Procedures. He knows procedures. He knows this track.
He knows the exact, the exact point
to release, to release pressure. The driver’s taken advice.
The air is clear. The rails are sharp. He is a man defying the dark.
The man on the bridge hears the train on the track, hears a voice calling, footsteps
dragging. He turns. She is cardigan-ed not white-coated. Disguised.
It is February. The air is clear. They are beyond the cemetery.
Beyond fear. The fear on the face of the man in the train of the man in the air.
Ruth O’Callaghan
in collection An Unfinished Sufficiency, 2015, Shoestring Press,
ISBN 978-1-9106690-4-4
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