two poems from a series titled “tracks”
2
Seated in the opposite direction, I sensed myself moving backwards.
Steam is clean; the turbine clicks.
You tell me about unions as we balance on icy tracks.
The sign asks: “Are your signals favorable?”
Magnetic levitation is a spell that cannot yet reach space.
Reflected against the snow, the night sky appears orange.
Early train construction was a competition of opposing tracks, preventing interchange between
companies.
The backsides of small towns are revealed equally to Coach and Business.
I stare at a backyard swingset I was never meant to see.
Locked into a specific path, trains change course at a junction.
The budget is slashed.
In the face of worker shortages, routes are cut down.
Ghost trolleys appear untracked.
The conductor clicks her tongue when I say “union station,” reminding me that there are many.
At free interchanges, I transfer my body in secret.
A union is a joining of tracks.
5
A body is a collection of channels.
I found myself in an unfamiliar station, deep underground with no signal.
A construction worker nods off on the train, his vest reflecting the passing light.
The most essential industries rarely profit.
The airport line wraps in endless circular motion.
Terrible news is delivered directly.
A line forms under the stories I click to see.
In the face of worker shortages, increasing freight car loads will exacerbate congestion.
Some deliveries may never arrive.
The train is limited to where it has been predetermined to run.
Electric wires rest on poles above ground.
The grid distressed, residents swelter as their cities go dark.
We envision the weather as wavy lines.
Endless attention requires a bit of boredom.
I dream of getting tipsy in the Café Car.
A buried lead is a few lines down.
This time, the train will never arrive.
It takes me 18 minutes to leave.
It takes me a few lines to get home.
//
Nellie Vinograd is a writer based in Philly. She received her MFA in Poetry from Temple University. Her writing has appeared in LESTE Magazine, THAT Literary Review, and the Stirling Spoon. Nellie is a poetry reader with Okay Donkey Magazine. She is also a proud and steadfast SEPTA rider.
