Eratio

Eratio Issue 17

 

 

 

I have to be a train

 

by Ann Erickson

 

 

 

 

  I have to be a train

like heavy iron

 

inexorable

 

stopping only

for those who flag

         me down

 

(the burning newspaper

in the cornfield)

 

or those

who wait

at the stations

 

& my heart

is movement

 

my only softness

displacement

 

& my only courtesy

 

my dining cars

& sleeping berths

 

& club car where

the very fine

golden vision

& smoky smells

 

are memory

& dream

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poetry, short prose and reviews by Ann Erickson have appeared in more than a hundred small press journals, particularly between 1989 and 2000, as well as in anthologies.  She edited the national literary quarterly tight magazine over those years and participated in performances and poetry readings.  Currently Ms. Erickson shares her writing and brush painting online and with friends.  Her volume of selected poems, Letters To The Sky, is available directly from the author. 

 

 


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