On Leaving: Trains

Clack-CLACK-clack-tic-tac
Clack-CLACK-clack-tic-tac

The train pulled from the station
Away from the platform
I tried not to look back

The train slides round a curve
You're no longer in view
Glass-eyed out the window
The sky gun-smoke grey
A cloud of snow falls
It covers the hillsides
It covers my tracks

The train's gaining speed
And bullets through tunnels
Through snowfields where sheep
Huddle steaming together
I peer down the carriage
At other sojourners
Enrobed in their broadsheets
Absorbed in their thoughts

We hurtle at light-speed
Through a galaxy of white
Sleet-flakes that hiss off
The hull of the train
Destination: one hour

You stood on the platform
Your face like a snowstorm

Snow covers my tracks
I tried not to look back

Clack-CLACK-clack-tic-tac
Clack-CLACK-clack-tic-tac