Sunday 23 October 2016

Steam requiem



You come to a point in that field, and there
the winds are mussing the crops' long hair,
and out of the next window, half shuttered - 
a farmer at lunch, a whirlpool of birds.
The thresh of blurred gravel next to the wheels.
On the far side another one reveals
a moment of bamboo, a flash of fig -
a station rolls past, the platforms - red brick
and yellow signage, commuters everywhere  -
but it’s diesel now, or clean electric.








13 comments:

  1. LOVE the wind mussing the crops' long hair.
    And am forced to admit that as a very young thing I pictured Italy as full of fields of spaghetti, waving in the wind.

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    1. That is such a lovely image and so apt :) wouldn't it be great if we could keep those pictures untouched in our heads as we grow up?

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  2. Very visual! I pleasant train ride across the country.

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  3. nicely drawn imagery

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  4. Hi Nila - love the wind mussing the crops long hair ... but the steam requiem: we have a few nostalgic restored heritage lines which have started up - and it brings back childhood memories ... puffing steam trains with whistles ...

    cheers Hilary

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    1. We have a few too - some of them really scenic routes through the Himalayas! Puffing trains were the best!

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  5. There's something so grand about steam engine locomotives. The things we give up in the name of progress...

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    1. Couldn't agree more! and I'd take the train over jet planes any day given a choice

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  6. no chug, just a whoosh as the train rolls along. Excellent imagery

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  7. Hey keep posting such good and meaningful articles.

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