Musings on a Train — 15 September 2009

Written aboard a train during my Ireland journey — September 2009

On the way to Sligo

To capture a moment
Embrace it
Caress it
Experience it
Feel it
And then translate it to paper
To hold forever and experience again
Or let it go
And experience the next moment

The old and the new
The familiar and the foreign
A couple chatting in Polish? Or Russian?
A man talking on his cell -
Hello? Hello? Just ringing back to say
The connection is bad
Some local ladies lightly conversing
Barely audible

The neatly subdivided fields - separated by
Fences, hedgerows, moss-covered rock walls
Each field a slightly different
Verdant shade of green
Cows and sheep grazing
Cows lying in the field
Fields speckled or covered with
Heather or gorse
The train glides on

Leaving behind neat cottages
Stately homes
Rolls of hay waiting in the fields
The farmers made hay while the sun
Shown this week
At least something to show for a long, wet
Summer

Sheep graze where they will
And look up when the train blows its
Whistle - nosy sheep
The cows don’t care, they
Keep chewing, tails swishing

And then a neighborhood, a bedroom
Hamlet
And we come to the next station
The church spire is visible
Above the hedges and trees lining the track
The old stone station stands alone
Meeting each train when it stops
And offers shelter to those who have
Been waiting and now directions to
Those who have disembarked

I like to write, ponder, muse in pencil
On paper
It’s more real, more now, this moment
Experienced
And captured?

The train moves on, and my thoughts with
The changing scene
I ponder: what is life like for the people
Who live in these towns - do they notice the
Train passing by?

A lake, a river, a stream
What are their names, and what do the
Locals call them?
The water reflects the gray, overcast sky and
Flows along, unfettered by my
Wondering

Do the people in the towns think:
”Who is traveling on the train today?
A visitor?
A businessman?
An official from Dublin?”
Or do they live their lives unfettered
By questions like mine?

Something peaceful, soothing and calming
To sit on a train, watching and
Pondering
And trying to capture on paper
A moment in my heart.