VIEW FROM THE TRAIN


Corduroy fields streak by the window,
whisker-gray shrub stalks brush the tracks, 
stacks of bee boxes wait 
at the feet of blossoming almond trees.

Beyond the road racing beside us 
where a car speeds to catch our shadow, 
tides of yellow grasses undulate,
wetlands drown the sky. 

Meadows fade where smokestacks 
spew chemical plumes,
and purple-eyed orange faces
howl from a graffitied wall.

We hiss to a stop, doors open
like faucets, passengers
pour onto the platform.
We have arrived.

2nd Prize, Sierra College Poetry Slam, 2020