Of all the sounds
I knew as a child,
the most familiar,
the most easily
forgotten because
they were the natural
Muzak of life, were
the sounds of the horns
of trains in the new
hours of morning darkness,
long plaintiff cries emitted
where tracks crossed roads.
I lie in my childhood
bed, hearing them now,
remembering when
I didn’t hear them at all.
This poem is part of the poems submitted to One Stop Poetry for One Shot Wednesday. The links will be live at 4 p.m. central time today.
Photograph: Railway Signal by Michael Drummond via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.
The sound of a train whistle was part of my childhood as well ... a logging train passed close by our home. Your last two lines hold so much memory.
ReplyDeleteReally liked this poem, Glynn. The last two lines, especially. We live within a couple of hundred yards of the tracks and it still fascinates me to see the train go by...
ReplyDeleteSo many of us can recall something about trains. I much prefer them to other forms of travel, when I don't have to get anywhere.
ReplyDeleteOne memory that remains so clear: the train carrying the body of Robert F. Kennedy from New York City to Washington. To see the faces of the people waiting and watching as that train inched forward and passed. . . so much hope was there, and then so much changed.
I like your line "the natural / Muzak of life" and, like the others, the concluding lines that bring together the past and present so poignantly.
Thanks. You just sparked a memory and I think a new poem.
ReplyDeleteSolid childhood-echoic work, with a nice pseudo-twist/wrap-up line.
ReplyDeletewell trains have always been my favorite child-toys..donno why but somehow i enjoyed the whistling sounds..(till now i do) :)
ReplyDeletegreat one!
we lived one block near
ReplyDeleteto the railroad tracks
screech rumble
whistle call
children didn't hear
they did not care
at all
I've always missed that sound...There is that something about trains I love there are none here around. But I've always felt in a former life I lived near trains...
ReplyDelete;)
Great One shoT
!
D.
smiles. this has special meaning for me...growing up with the tracks at the bottom of the hill out back...moving away that is what i missed lulling me to sleep at night...great one shot!
ReplyDelete"...remembering when I didn't hear them at all" I love this part the best because it somehow speaks to my heart about the warmth and familiarity of home. It's a wonderful poem Glynn.
ReplyDeleteThanks Glynn, Train in the distance...Paul Simon. Somethin about that night horn that brings out the melancholy in me. Nice.
ReplyDeleteThere is something soothing about the sound of a train...this is beautiful Glynn! :-)
ReplyDeleteVery evocative piece. Nice One Shot. Love and Light, Sender
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how sounds trigger memories. There is a lovely sense of nostalgia here
ReplyDeleteGlynn
ReplyDeleteThis one was nostalgic for me... thanks for reminding me of beautiful days of childhood... I relished the last sentence..."Remembering when, I didn't hear them at all"
ॐ नमः शिवाय
Om Namah Shivaya
Twitter: @VerseEveryDay
Blog: http://shadowdancingwithmind.blogspot.com
An astute observation in such wonderful words. It's very true. You really don't notice a lot of things until they've left you, especially in childhood.
ReplyDeleteTo recall what you didn't remember... IMHO a beautiful, profound poem.
ReplyDeleteSomething about train whistles always stirs my imagination. This was a beautiful poem.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right there. Even though we don't hear them in childhood at a conscious level, they surface from the unconscious later in life as we hear them, and help us make a connection!
ReplyDelete