The Late Train Home
by L.M. Browning
Featured Fleeting Moments of Fierce Clarity: Journal of a New England Poet
Image Train Window © Bernt Rostad
When I plan a journey, I never mind long travel times or layovers. Most cringe when I tell them I recently booked tickets for a seven hour journey on the train with two layovers but to me, the journey is the thing.
Some find their solace along the beach, drowsy under a warm sun; I find mine in a window-seat, traveling along the rails. No phone, no computer, no rush and no concerns. I sit withdrawn from the chaotic world, quiet within myself watching the landscape scroll by. Day moves into night and I descend deeper into myself. The horizon swallowed by night, my window becomes a mirror. I see my own reflection in the glass now—a silhouette cast by the overhead lamp in my small compartment. I look and listen. The rhythm of the wheels churning provide an orderly, comfort to a mind overwhelmed by a modern chaos.
—Boston, Massachusetts, January 2011
The Late Train Home
The river of black glass
cuts starkly through the
blanket of cotton snow.
The wind is visible today.
The icy dust highlights
its fine edges.
My time
of meditation
takes place on travel.
My mantra
is the rhythm
of the engine’s movement.
The prayer wheel turns
as the train wheels churn.
My green eyes stare impassive
at the scrolling screen outside my window
as the mind’s eye turns inward.
There is something holy
about traveling with a purpose
that serves the greater whole.
There are those who speak
of religion
and those who carry
a spirituality.
Do not speak
of what you believe;
live it.
FLEETING MOMENTS OF FIERCE CLARITY
Journal of a New England Poet
Foreword by Ian Marhsall author Border Crossings and Walden by Haiku
Available in Paperback, Kindle, Nook, Kobo and Audio Edition
ISBN 978-1-938846-01-4 | 126 Pgs | 6 x 9 | List Price: $14.95
*Finalist in the 2013 Next Generation Indie Book Award
*2012 Pushcart Prize Nominations
Published by Homebound Publications
Signed Editions Available Publisher-Direct Here>>
Amazon | B&N | Indiebound
