Tuesday, October 26, 2010

The Trains of Childhood


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.

19 comments:

S. Etole said...

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.

Jeff Jordan said...

Really 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...

Maureen said...

So 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.

One 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.

Anonymous said...

Thanks. You just sparked a memory and I think a new poem.

Steve Isaak said...

Solid childhood-echoic work, with a nice pseudo-twist/wrap-up line.

Desert Rose said...

well trains have always been my favorite child-toys..donno why but somehow i enjoyed the whistling sounds..(till now i do) :)
great one!

Anonymous said...

we lived one block near
to the railroad tracks
screech rumble
whistle call
children didn't hear
they did not care
at all

Dulçe ♥ said...

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...
;)
Great One shoT
!

D.

Brian Miller said...

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!

Linda said...

"...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.

Jerry said...

Thanks Glynn, Train in the distance...Paul Simon. Somethin about that night horn that brings out the melancholy in me. Nice.

Carrie Van Horn said...

There is something soothing about the sound of a train...this is beautiful Glynn! :-)

Anonymous said...

Very evocative piece. Nice One Shot. Love and Light, Sender

Anonymous said...

It is amazing how sounds trigger memories. There is a lovely sense of nostalgia here

Shashidhar Sharma said...

Glynn
This 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

Unknown said...

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.

dustus said...

To recall what you didn't remember... IMHO a beautiful, profound poem.

TALON said...

Something about train whistles always stirs my imagination. This was a beautiful poem.

Mona said...

You 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!